Enter the Dragonfly Reignited
by bluethunder25
Summary: After being rescued from the wrath of the Sorceress, the baby dragons anxiously wait to be given their dragonflies. But an alliance of Spyro's greatest villains is back to make sure that doesn't happen. And now with the dragonflies gone, Spyro and his friends must travel far beyond the waters of the Dragon Realms, Avalor, and even the Forgotten Realms; to save them.
1. Enter the Dragonflies

Today was a very special day in the Artisans realm of the Dragon Worlds. Representatives from each of the realms; Artisans, Peace Keepers, Dream Weavers, Beast Makers, and Magic Crafters; came to celebrate the occasion.

The celebration was held in Town Square which was decorated from head to toe with streamers and balloons.

There was a huge spread with all kinds of food and plenty to drink; plenty of coffee, that is, complements of Gavin. Nestor suggested they have punch, but Gavin wasn't having any of it, feeling coffee was perfect to keep the guests strong and in a constant partying mood.

As for the guests themselves, in addition to the Dragon realms, those from Avalor and the Forgotten Realms were present as well including; Elora, Hunter, Moneybags, the Professor, Bianca, Sheila, Bentley, Agent 9, and SGT Byrd.

In addition, dozens of young dragons were happily playing with each one another. Since their hatching, they were always an energetic bunch, but today, they were more so than usual, for today, the young dragons had some new playmates; dragonflies.

Indeed, today was quite a day to celebrate as the baby dragons received their dragonflies who would be their companions; to help and protect them, just as Sparx with Spyro.

Delbin was busy painting a portrait of a baby dragon with its dragonfly. However, it proved to be difficult as the dragon kept changing its dragonfly's appearance, putting on different outfits, much to Delbin's annoyance.

A bunch of gnorc dummies were set up which the baby dragons threw paint balloons at. Agent 9, thinking they were real gnorcs, wildly fired his blaster at them.

"HAHAHAHAAA! Take that, you gnarly gnorcs! That'll teach you ta mess with Agent 9!" Agent 9 shouted before blasting at the dummies again.

One of his blasts caused the head of one of the gnorc dummies to fly off, landing on a nearby sheep. Agent 9 turned to see the sheep and, thinking it was a gnorc, went after it while the Professor tried to keep him under control.

Moneybags being Moneybags tried to bribe the elder dragons with some fancy hats in exchange for some gems.

Meanwhile, Gavin was busy posing and flexing his muscles in front of the other dragons as Spyro along with Elora, along with Hunter and Bianca, were talking.

Hunter and Bianca observed the baby dragons playing with their dragonflies. "They sure are happy. Aren't they, Spyro?" he asked as he placed an arm around Bianca.

Spyro nodded in agreement. "Well it's not everyday a young dragon gets his dragonfly," he said.

"Well thanks to you and Hunter, the dragons are her to have them," Elora said as she scratched Spyro under the chin, much to his liking. She then looked to Bianca, giving her a serious look. "Of course, you wouldn't have had to go to the trouble if 'someone' hadn't taken them in the first place."

Guilt fell on Bianca's face while Elora just stared coldly at her.

"Elora!" Hunter scolded.

"Hey, come on, Elora. Bianca really helped us in the end," said Spyro.

"Yeah!" Hunter agreed. "I mean sure she did work with the Sorceress and stole the dragon eggs and almost wiped out all the magic in the Dragon Lands, not to mention trying to kill us on more than one occasion..."

Spyro cleared his throat and cut Hunter off, seeing Bianca pull at one of her ears, being racked with more guilt over Hunter's words.

Hunter looked to Bianca and saw this as well and ran over to comfort her. "But she learned the error of her ways and made up for it and that's what matters."

"Well, I guess," Elora sighed. She was still skeptical about Bianca, but for the sake of the party and Spyro, she put on a positive face as Nestor called forth all the guests, baby dragons, and their dragonflies.

"Attention everyone!" Nestor proclaimed, standing before everyone. "First of all, I would like to thank everyone for coming to this glorious celebration. Of course, the baby dragons receiving their dragonflies is cause in itself, but even more so because these dragons wouldn't be here today if not for the efforts of our own dragon, Spyro.

The elder dragons and the guests all applauded. Moneybags gave a single, unenthusiastic clap.

"Hey! What about me?! I helped too!" Hunter pointed out.

"Oh! And uh...Hunter...to a degree," said Nestor.

"Thanks...hey!" Hunter responded.

Bianca, Spyro, and Elora laughed under their breaths.

Gavin came up to Spyro and lifted up while doing a pose. "Yeah! We owe everything to this little fella!" he exclaimed.

"Aww, it was nothing," Spyro said, trying to feign modesty.

"Nothing?! Nothing he says! HA! Nonsense! None of these dragons would be here if it wasn't for you and your sidekick!" exclaimed Gavin.

"Sidekick?" Hunter said solemnly.

"Especially since 'someone' took them," Gavin said, eyeing Bianca.

And with that reminder, the guilt in Bianca returned as she held one of her ears solemnly. It didn't help that the other dragons gave her virtually the same look as Gavin.

Hunter went over to comfort Bianca again while Spyro jumped out of Gavin's hand.

"Guys! What Bianca did was wrong, but she helped us in the end! She's our friend!" Spyro protested.

Some of the Artisan dragons and the Magic Crafter dragons were conflicted in regards to Bianca's trustworthiness. The Beast Maker dragons were more open to giving her the benefit of the doubt while most of the Peace Keeper dragons didn't have the best opinion of her.

Still, since Spyro was a respected hero in the Dragon Lands, the least the elder dragons could do was show Bianca a bit of respect on his behalf and did just so.

As for Bianca, though she was saddened by the lukewarm response, at the same time, she wasn't too surprised either. She was perfectly aware of her past and knew it would take some time to be excepted by everyone. But for the time being, she figured it was best for her to continue enjoying the party.

However, any further enjoyment of the party was halted as the ground suddenly began to shake, making the baby dragon and the dragonflies frantic.

"Hey! What goin' on?!" Hunter asked as the rumbling got stronger.

Spyro didn't know what to make of it. Earthquakes weren't too common in the Dragon Lands but he knew something was up.

The elder dragons ordered the baby dragons and dragonflies to stay back and take cover before they took their stances and prepared for what might come. And it didn't take long for them to see where the quakes were coming from as a large group of gnorcs marched forth, much to their surprise.

Hunter, Bianca, and Elora were especially surprised as they had never seen gnorcs before.

"What are gnorcs doing here?!" Gavin growled.

"I don't know, with Gnasty Gnorc gone, what reason do they have to attack us?" Lindar said.

"Whatever their reason is, keep on your guard," Nestor warned as the gnorcs approached them.

"I'M THE REASON!" shouted a familiar voice.

A few of the gnorcs parted to make way for their leader. To the shock of Spyro and the Elder dragons, it was revealed to be none other than an old enemy; Gnasty Gnorc.

Spyro growled as Gnasty approached him and the others. "What are you doing here, ugly?! I thought I toasted you! Did you come back for more!?" he taunted.

Gnasty growled back and clenched his fists. "You got lucky the last time! But I'm back and I'm here to destroy you!" he shouted.

"Don't count on it, Gnasty Breath!" Spyro responded, causing Gnasty to check his breath.

Hunter, Bianca and Elora were a bit surprised to see Gnasty Gnorc considering what Spyro had told them about his previous encounter with him. Regardless, Spyro wasn't phased and was confident he could take down Gnasty again just as he did before.

However, Elora and Hunter's surprised emotions were quickly stopped as they heard an all too familiar voice.

"Don't count on it, dragon!" the voice cackled.

Hunter and Elora held their breaths in fear.

"Hunter? Hunter, what is it?" Bianca asked, gently shaking her boyfriend.

It wasn't long before the keeper of the voice was revealed as he jumped on top of Gnasty's shoulder. It was none other than Ripto.

"Oh great! Things just got a whole lot better," Spyro said sarcastically.

Ripto gave a sinister grin towards Spyro. "Didn't expect to see me, did you, dragon?" he said.

"No, but that's only because most of the time, I can barely see you at all!" Spyro retorted.

"Wh-wha-was that-was that a short joke?! I HATE SHORT JOKES!" Ripto shouted, stamping on Gnasty's shoulder.

Elora, Hunter, and Bianca giggled while Spyro snickered.

"What? Were you just hiding behind Gnasty?" Spyro pondered.

"Yeah, so what?" Ripto answered.

"So, you were hanging onto his back, waiting to show yourself?" Elora also pondered.

"IT'S CALLED MAKING A DRAMATIC ENTRANCE!" Ripto yelled again.

Just then, Nestor approached Ripto. "Whoever you are, this is our home! And you are not welcome here!" he commanded.

Ripto chuckled in response. "Oh, that's too bad, because along with my friend here, I also brought some other guests to join in the party!" he said before snapping his fingers.

Suddenly, a large group of rhynocs charged in alongside the gnorcs, surrounding Spyro and the others.

"They got us trapped!" Hunter said.

"No kidding," Elora said in response, rolling her eyes.

Spyro looked around at the surrounding monsters. "First gnorcs, now rhynocs?! What next?!" he said.

Just then, another familiar voice echoed, much to Bianca's dismay.

"Hello, Bianca dear," the voice said with slight malice.

The voice soon revealed itself to be none other than the Sorceress.

"I just had to ask," Spyro said, breaking the fourth wall.

Bianca's eyes widened with shock at the sight of her former master. "How is this possible?! Spyro defeated you!" she said.

"Anybody else notice a pattern here?" Spyro asked.

Truth be told, neither Spyro nor anyone else had any idea as to how his previous enemies had returned, but at the moment, there was no time to worry about that as the combined forces of the gnorcs and rhynocs enclosed them.

"Let's just say, a 'common interest' brought us back, Spyro," said the Sorceress.

"What 'common interest?'" asked Spyro.

"That's on a need-to-know basis!" shouted Ripto before he elbowed the Sorceress. "As for right now, well I'd say there's one thing that interests us and that's destroying you!"

On Ripto's command, the gnorcs and rhynocs attacked.

The elder dragons knew they had to keep the young lings safe and went on the offensive. Nestor punched out a few gnorcs and swiped away at some rhynocs with his tail. Gavin pounded away at a few with his strength. One rhynoc tried to get at him, but he just tossed him away. The Dream Weaver dragons used their magic to change the gnorcs and rhynocs into many different things from toads to sheep to statues to stuffed pigs. The Peace Keeper dragons joined in the fight as well, using weapons such axes, clubs, and hammers. As for the Beast Makers, they used unorthodox methods such as noogies and placing the enemy's heads in their armpits.

Agent 9 was having the time of his life as he fired away at the army. "Come on! You want some-a me?! Bring it on!" he shouted.

Meanwhile, Sheila bounced on a few gnorcs heads and slammed one into the ground. "How's the weather down there, mate?" she chuckled.

Sgt. Byrd used his missile to keep some of the army at bay. "Take that, you rapscallions!" he exclaimed.

Bentley whacked away at them with his club before turning to Sgt. Byrd. "'Rapscallions?' Hmm, not bad, but I'd prefer uncultured, heinous, malignant urchins!" he said as he whacked individual rhynocs and gnorcs.

Moneybags tried in vain to hide, but eventually was caught. "Um...hello, gentlemen...care for a 1.5 percent discount?" he said, attempting to bride the gnorcs and rhynocs. Unfortunately, the greedy bear ended up being bounced around like a volleyball.

Gnasty attacked some of the Artisan dragons while Ripto fired away at Spyro, Hunter, and Elora.

"Stand still, you annoying dragon!" Ripto ordered as Spyro dodged his attacks.

"Still as slow on the draw as ever, 'shorty!'" Spyro mocked.

"STOP CALLING ME THAT!" Ripto shouted, stamping his feet.

Hunter swiped away at the gnorcs and rhynocs with his claws, managing to knock a couple down. Though he fought valiantly, he was eventually overpowered by the numbers.

Elora managed to kick away some of them with her hooves, but she too was overpowered.

Bianca meanwhile didn't fare any better as her magic didn't seem to do much damage.

One of the rhynocs tackled Hunter to the ground while at the same time, another batted Bianca away right next to him.

"Hunter, are you alright?" Bianca asked as she helped him up.

"Aside from some major damage to my spine, I'll be fine. You?" Hunter asked back.

"Pretty much the same," Bianca answered with a slight chuckle.

Just then, Bianca noticed the Sorceress, who hadn't really done anything for the entire fight, keeping her distance. Upon closer observation, she noticed her gripping her staff with her eyes closed, chanting some sort of incantation. She had no idea what the Sorceress was up to, but whatever it was, she knew it was no good.

As the battle continued, the elder dragons were holding their own, despite the numbers, though it wasn't easy.

Ripto fired an energy blast towards Spyro who answered with his fire breath.

Meanwhile, Shiela and the others were holding their own as well, but they were getting exhausted.

The Sorceress continued chanting as her scepter emitted a bright glow. Seeing this, Bianca decided to take matters into her own hands and moved in to try and stop her. "Hold it right there!" she commanded nervously.

However, the Sorceress just chuckled mockingly. "You think you can stop me? I taught you everything you know!" she said.

Bianca backed away a step, but after taking a breath, she charged in with gritted teeth, only to be stopped by Gnasty. The massive gnorc grabbed her in his giant hands which made Hunter charge in and jump on him. It was to no avail as Gnasty just tossed the both of them aside.

With the two of them disposed of, the Sorceress continued until she her scepter had reached full power. She then raised it in the air, unleashing a beam of energy into the sky which stopped the battle in its tracks.

As the gnorcs and rhynocs pulled back, the elder dragons and everyone else looked up at the sky which turned an ominous magenta with lightning. The ground started to shake, making the baby dragons and dragonflies more scared.

"What going on here?!" said Spyro before he looked back at Ripto who gave him a sinister chuckle.

Meanwhile, the Sorceress waved her scepter and directed the lightning, not towards Spyro, not towards the other dragons, but towards the dragonflies. One by one, each of them disappeared, much to the dismay of the young dragons, including Sparx.

"The dragonflies! They're gone!" shouted Nestor.

Spyro frantically looked around, shouting for Sparx, but there was no answer. Elora rushed over to comfort him while the villains mockingly laughed.

With all the dragonflies gone, the sky cleared up. The spell the Sorceress conjured up had done its job.

Hunter and Bianca helped each other get to their feet before they noticed the same thing.

The Sorceress chuckled. "Well it's been fun...for us, but I'm afraid we have more pressing engagements, you understand," she said.

"You got the best of us last time, but now we have the upper hand!" said Ripto.

Using her scepter, the Sorceress made an orange portal appear.

"Or in this case, the upper 'dragonfly!' HAHAHAHA!" said Gnasty.

Ripto and the Sorceress groaned at Gnasty bad attempt at a joke before the three of them exited through the portal, but not before Spyro gave Ripto a quick torch on the butt.

With the villains departed and the chaos appearing to have concluded, some of the elder dragons attempted to calm down the baby dragons while the rest tried to clean up the mess.

Meanwhile, Spyro again tried to call out for Sparx, but it was no use, Sparx was gone, and not just him, all the other dragonflies were gone as well.


	2. Chaos, Triumph, and Cake

The bright sun setting to make way for the night was a perfect representation for the mood that had fallen in the Artisans Realm. What started as a joyous celebration for the Dragon Realms had quickly devolved into a depressing disaster; or as Bentley would describe it, a melancholy, oppressive, abominable, atrocious, unsightly, horrendous, ghastly situation.

The young dragons were devastated having lost their dragonflies. They had just received them and already they were gone. However none more so than Spyro. He and Sparx had been near inseparable since he was a little hatchling and the two had stuck together through all of Spyro's adventures. And now, within a flash, he was gone, no longer by his side.

Meanwhile, everyone was hard at work, cleaning up the damage from the attack, with the exception of Moneybags who just kicked a piece of debris underneath a table.

"Well, that was hard," Moneybags said, feigning fatigue. "Time for a break."

However, he soon walked into Bentley and it didn't take long for him to get back to work after Bentley held his club up in his face.

Spyro solemnly slumped his head while Elora tried to comfort him. "I can't believe it. My best friend, gone!" he said.

"Don't worry, Spyro. We'll find Sparx. And the other dragonflies too," Elora said reassuringly.

After they moved some damaged furniture, Hunter and Bianca joined them.

"Spyro, I am so sorry, I tried but the Sorceress was just too strong," Bianca said, racked with guilt.

Hunter put a comforting hand on Bianca's shoulder. "Ah, don't beat yourself up about it. You did the best you could," he said.

"Yeah!" Spyro said, nodding in agreement.

"Did she?" Elora asked leerily.

Hunter, Spyro and Bianca were taken back a bit by Elora's somewhat accusatory tone.

"What do you mean, Elora?" asked Spyro.

"I was watching and Bianca didn't put up much of an effort before Gnasty grabbed her and Hunter. How do we know she wasn't in on this in the first place?" Elora speculated.

"Bianca wouldn't do something like that!" Hunter said, getting up in Elora's face.

Bianca gently pulled him back. "Listen, Elora, I understand why you might think that, but.."

But before Bianca could finish, she was cut off by one of the Peace Keeper dragons; Magnus, who flew in and landing before the accused bunny.

"Elora makes a good point! You were probably just pretended to help so that there would be no suspicion on you!" Magnus bellowed.

Hunter quickly stepped in front of Bianca to defend her. "Hey! Back off!" he said.

In response, Magnus growled, showing off his teeth to Hunter. In response to that, Hunter cowered behind his girlfriend.

"Um...if you wouldn't mind, that is," he said, nervously chuckling.

The other elder dragons looked towards Bianca, most of them sharing in Magnus' suspicions. The rest of the Peace Keepers stood with Magnus before Bianca with arms crossed and menacing glares.

"I think she's in cahoots with those creeps!" said Gunnar.

"Yeah! I bet she knows where the dragonflies are!" said Todor.

"What?! No! No I don't!" Bianca replied.

"Hmph, a likely answer," said Gunnar.

Granted, it wasn't entirely fair to place accusations on Bianca, but given her track record, it was hard for most of the elder dragons and the others not to.

Suddenly, Agent 9 rapidly circled around Bianca, pointing his laser at her. "So did you do it?! Did you?! Did you?! DID YOU?! Where'd ya hide em?!" he said before he was grabbed by Bentley.

"Settle yourself, you fidgety, hysterical, restless primate," Bentley said. "Now I will be the first to admit, I wasn't fond of my misfortunes being in captivity at the hands of that disreputable, opprobrious, malignant, contemptuous Sorceress; however, though our judgment in light of Bianca's previous transgressions is logical and coherent, as a gentleman, I feel that such accusations should not be present without the palpable proof."

"Bentley's right, um...whatever he said," said Hunter in Bianca's defense. "And besides, if Bianca knew where the dragonflies were...uh...do you think she would...still be here right now?"

The Elder dragons and the others looked at one another, pausing to think about what Hunter said. Admittedly, he presented a fair point. If Bianca had in fact been in on it and she indeed knew where the villains had taken the dragonflies, she most likely wouldn't have stay behind to where she could be easily interrogated.

"Hunter does make a good point," said Sheila. "And I also don't think we should be quick to accuse Bianca either."

Cleetus from the Beast Makers stepped in to give his thoughts. "In the Beast Makers, we have a few sayings. One of them is; if it's furry and runs on four legs, it makes a great gumbo; and the other is innocent until proven guilty," he said.

Sgt Byrd flew in next to Sheila, giving Bianca a skeptical look. "I still have my doubts," he said.

Cosmos of the Magic Crafters was adamant on his feelings. "Bah! Once a villain, always a villain! A leopard can't change its spots!" he said.

This comment made Hunter look at his spots in confusion.

Meanwhile, the Dream Weavers leader, Lateef, gave his thoughts on the matter. "I am a firm believer that you are judged by your recent deed and by that account, the fact that Bianca helped Spyro defeat the Sorceress last time proves that she can be trusted," he said.

"Pfft, makes sense that you would be on her side, Lateef. You're always so naive," scoffed Cosmos.

Soon, an argument escalated between the elders and the others. Suffice to say, the gravity of the situation was putting mostly everyone on edge.

Finally, Nestor stepped in and gave a hard stomp to the ground, bringing everything to a halt. "Enough!" he commanded. "No matter who is responsible, the fact is the dragonflies are gone and they must be found! They are essential to the magic in our world!"

Spyro and the elders nodded in agreement.

"Nestor is right! Sparx and the others are out there somewhere! We've gotta find them!" Spyro proclaimed.

With that, Nestor ordered a search throughout the realms for any sign of the dragonflies with Spyro agreeing to join in.

Bianca also agreed to join in, feeling that it would at least help gain some trust among the elders, and the search was on.

* * *

But while Spyro and the others were anxious about their loss; Ripto, Gnasty, and the Sorceress; were square dancing like maniacs in celebration of their gain.

In a far off castle, the villains held a party with the guests of honor being the captured dragonflies, including Sparx.

A rhynoc and a gnorc were fighting over a piece of cake, a gnorc was beating the stuffing out of a Spyro pinata, and another gnorc and rhynoc were engaged in a punch drinking contest.

Indeed it was a time for celebration as far they were concerned. Individually, they had failed against the purple dragon, but together, they had succeeded and victory was theirs. And since Spyro and the others didn't know where they were, there was very little chance of them messing up their plans.

Ripto hopped onto a table and grabbed a cup of punch, proposing a toast. The other two villains acquiesced.

"Here's to victory!" proclaimed Ripto. "Thanks to my brilliant leadership, of course."

"Leadership?!" the Sorceress responded objectively. "It was my spell that did the trick."

"Oh, the one that took a hundred years? I hadn't noticed," Ripto argued.

Gnasty interjected. "Hey! Me and my gnorcs helped too!" he bellowed.

"Your gnorcs wouldn't have gotten anywhere without my rhynocs!" the Sorceress protested.

"Those inane, incompetent, imbecilic, morons couldn't find their way out of a paper bag without my guidance!" Ripto shouted to Gnasty before he turned to the Sorceress. "And the same goes for those filthy animals of yours!"

The Sorceress and Gnasty glared at Ripto, growling.

"I don't know what you said, but I'm extremely offended!" Gnasty growled at Ripto, hitting his club.

"As am I!" said the Sorceress.

In response, the Sorceress took her staff, pointed it at Ripto, and turned him into a toad, much to her and Gnasty's amusement. After a croak, the annoyed Ripto grabbed his staff with his mouth and retaliated by turning the Sorceress into a mouse. The two went back and forth, turning each other into things; Ripto into a pig, the Sorceress into crab, Ripto into a fly, the Sorceress into a sloth; with Gnasty and the gnorcs and rhynoc just amusingly watching while eating cake.

When the two returned to normal, they glared at each other, ready to go at it again, but then a blast of energy, stopped then in their tracks, knocking them, Gnasty and the gnorcs and rhynocs back. Another blast destroyed all the decorations and food, much to their dismay.

"ENOUGH!" a voice bellowed.

Before them, from the shadows, a figure stood. Though barely visible, he had the appearance of a dragon holding a long scepter of his own.

The three villains trembled at the sight of the figure, Ripto and the Sorceress both bent a knee, however, Gnasty was too scared to move, so they forced him down.

"I did not go through the trouble of resurrecting you three fools to watch you bicker like a trio of hatchlings!" the voice bellowed again. "Did you get the dragonflies?!"

"Yes...master," Ripto answered, reluctant to call him master.

"Good, phase one is now complete...time now for phase two," the figure chuckled as his eyes glowed a sinister red.

* * *

Night fell and hours had passed since the search began. In the Artisans castle, a distraught and somber Spyro returned where Elora was waiting for and immediately rushed to him.

She could tell just by looking at him that the search didn't go well. "No luck, huh?" she said, putting a hand on Spyro's shoulder.

The purple dragon solemnly shook his head. "Nope," he answered.

Nestor, along with the other leaders arrived alongside Spyro, equally discouraged.

"I and the other Artisans searched all through the Artisan realm, but we found no trace of the dragonflies," said Nestor.

Neither Titan, Cosmos, nor Bruno had the better luck in the search of their realms, much to Spyro's dismay.

Titan slammed his ax to the ground in frustration. "I should've fought harder!" he shouted.

"We all fought our hardest, Titan. Do not blame yourself," said Nestor.

"Evidently not hard enough," Cosmos pointed out.

"Oh, put a sock in it, Cosmos! Things are bad enough as it is!" said Bruno.

Sheila, Sgt, Byrd, Bentley, and Agent 9 were the next to arrive.

"We didn't have much luck either, mates," sighed Sheila. "We couldn't find em anywhere in the Forgotten Worlds."

"I'm afraid our efforts proved to be most fruitless," said Bentley.

"Affirmative," agreed Sgt. Byrd. "We covered all areas of our sector and found nothing."

"And no ugly rhynocs or gnorcs either! My blaster didn't like that! Not one bit!" said Agent 9.

More bad news was the last thing that Spyro needed to hear. It didn't help matters when Hunter, Bianca, the Professor, and Moneybags arrived with virtually the same news.

"Well? Did you find them?" Elora asked.

"No, they weren't anywhere in Avalor," Bianca sighed.

"We looked everywhere and there wasn't a single sign of them," said Hunter.

"Great..." Spyro responded, slumping his head down in distress.

Elora patted Spyro on the head to try and comfort him, then turned to Hunter and the others. "Are you sure you didn't find anything?" she asked.

"Well, the smell of dragon breath didn't permeate the air, so no," answered Moneybags.

Hunter responded by giving Moneybags a hard hit on the head, knocking him out.

Unfortunately, not even the sight of Moneybags getting knocked out could cheer up Spyro at this point. Sparx was gone, the other dragonflies were gone, and to make matters worse, they were nowhere to be found in any of the previous realms.

"There's gotta be some way to find them!" Elora said.

"But we don't even know where to look!" said Spyro.

"I think I might," said a voice.

Spyro and the others looked in the direction of the voice to find none other than Oswin, hovering in.

"You say you may know where Gnasty and the other have taken the dragonflies?" Nestor asked Oswin curiously.

"Yes, but it's kind of a stretch," Oswin answered.

Spyro quickly ran over to Oswin with resolve in his eyes. "I don't care! Stretch or not, I'll take it!" he said.

Oswin could see the seriousness in Spyro expression and so with that, he had Spyro, the elders, and the others follow him to the library in Dark Hollow.

* * *

With everyone gathered at the library, Oswin presented a red book with gold lining and opened its pages.

"It wasn't an easy search. I must've spent hours looking for this information; granted some of them were spent reading some old comics, but still, it wasn't easy," said Oswin.

Nestor and the other elders rolled their eyes.

Awkwardly, Oswin opened the book, coming onto a page detailing what looked like a series of islands which he brought everyone's attention to.

Spyro leaped onto the table to closer observe the page on the book "What's that?" he asked.

Nestor walked over and looked at the page on the book as well. His eyes widened as he instantly recognized the islands drawn in the page. "The islands of Illica. Of course!" he said.

The elders gave each other serious looks while Spyro and the others looked at each other befuddled.

"The islands of Illica?" Spyro asked after jumping off the table.

"What are those?" Elora also asked.

"An archipelago of islands far beyond the waters of the Dragon Realms," said Nestor.

"Many believed they were just a myth, but they were said to have existed long before the Dragon Realms," Cosmos added. "They are also said to contain more magic than any of the realms combined."

"The key word is 'myth,'" Titan scoffed. "No realm has more magic than the Dragon Realms! Not even Avalar has more magic than us!"

Titan's comment made Elora, Hunter, and the Professor all glare at him.

Meanwhile, Oswin picked up the book and paced around Spyro and the others. "I found this book years ago and had been studying its contents, but for the past couple of years, I hadn't really put my hands on it until now. It tells of an ancient dragon god named Thasius, who is said to be the dragon god of all creation, who created the islands and the magic that inhabits it. He is also said to have created the dragon realms as well as Avalar and the Forgotten Worlds as well," he said.

Spyro and the others were astonished by this, but especially Spyro, seeing as how this was the first time he had ever heard of dragon gods and the creation of the realms and such.

"Well, I must say, I am thunderstruck by this information," said Bentley.

"Huh? Struck by thunder? Where? I don't see it," Hunter responded, checking Bentley for burn marks.

Bianca rolled her eyes before cracking a smile. "He means he's surprised, you furry numskull," she said with a giggle.

Oswin continued. "If there's any place Gnasty, Ripto, and the Sorceress have taken the dragonflies, chances are they're probably there."

For the first time in a while, things appeared to be looking up as now the group had an idea as to where to find the dragonflies.

However, Titan was not convinced. "Ridiculous!" he bellowed. "We don't even know if these islands exist!"

"Maybe we don't, but it's not like we have any other choices," said Bruno.

"We can't place the entire fate of the realms on a story! Only a fool would venture that far outside the realms!" said Titan.

Spyro adamantly stood before Titan with resolve. "Quite frankly, I don't care! Sparx and the others are out there somewhere and right now, Illica is our only lead! If there is a chance to find Sparx, I'll take it!"

Cosmos intervened. "The young dragon has a point, you know," he added. "Besides, it case you hadn't noticed, we live in a world with magic portals, floating islands, and talking kangaroos."

Titan looked down at said kangaroo, Sheila, who winked at him, then at Spyro, seeing the resolve in his eyes, and he couldn't help but smile. "Such confidence, you remind me a lot of myself at your age," he said.

Spyro smiled back.

"He is also very stubborn," added Nestor.

"And reckless," added Cosmos.

"And hotheaded," added Brutus.

"And sometimes has a one-track mind," Elora teased, elbowing Spyro.

Myth or not, nothing was gonna stop Spyro from going. His expression made that clear. So, seeing as there was no way of stopping him, Titan had no choice but to acquiesce, much to his own pleasure, as Nestor walked up to Spyro.

"Spyro, in the past you have proven yourself and overcome many challenges. I have no doubt you will do the same with this one," Nestor said with pride.

"You can count me in," said Elora.

Though she couldn't help much when Ripto invaded Avalar, she was determined to help Spyro find the dragonflies and his friend.

Hunter was in too, as well as Bianca.

"I know I haven't given everybody much reason to trust me, but I wanna do what I can to help the Dragon Realms," Bianca said.

Elora still had trust issues when it came to Bianca, but still, she knew they would need all the help they could get.

Sheila, Sgt. Byrd, Agent 9, and Bentley were the next to approach.

"Well, we can't let you guys have all the fun, now can we?" said Sheila.

"Yeah! Just point me near one of those rhynocs or gnorcs and I'll turn them into Swiss cheese!" said Agent 9.

"I am at your command, soldier!" Sgt. Byrd said, giving a salute.

"I too resolve to aid you in your endeavors, little dragon," said Bentley.

Spyro gave an approving smile as all his friends stood beside him. He wasn't sure what was in store for him in Illica, but regardless, he was gonna do whatever he had to do and go wherever he needed to go in order to save Sparx and the other dragonflies. And with more friends aiding him than ever before, he was confident that he could do it.

The last one was Moneybags who had not given his decision whom everyone looked to.

The greedy bear nervously held his bag. "Now you know, I would be more than happy to assist, but in light of everything that has gone down, I feel it would be...more essential if I were to stay here to make sure that...the gems don't get stolen. Yes! And besides, with my pugilistic background it probably wouldn't be fair to the rest of if I upstage you, so I'll just leave it to you," he said before running off.

Spyro and others just rolled their eyes at Moneybags' typical cowardice.


	3. Show Me the Magic

After three days of packing and preparation, Spyro and the gang were ready to set off on their adventure. Oswin had provided them with a map to the possible location of the islands so they wouldn't get lost. For the mode of transportation to Illica, it was decided that they would go on a ship, crafted by the finest crafters in the Artisans realm, so as not to be too conspicuous, and they would depart from the beach of the Artisans world.

In addition to Spyro and the others, a selected group of dragon elders; one representative from each realm; would tag along as well; Gavin for the Artisans, Titan for the Peace Keepers, Cleetus for the Beast Makers; Cosmos for the Magic Crafters, and Lateef for the Dream Weavers.

The dragons loaded the provisions and items onto the ship which included a variety of axes, maces, and swords; all brought in at the order of Titan.

"Have enough weapons, Titan?" Cosmos noticed.

"A true warrior is prepared for any battle that awaits him! This isn't just Gnasty we're dealing with this time! Besides, I have been looking for some payback for imprisoning me and fellow Peace Keepers and I'm just keeping my options open," Titan replied.

Meanwhile, Gavin loaded two large crates onto the ship before he was approached by Nestor.

"Hmm. What could possibly be in those crates? I'm going to take a wild guess and say it's not coffee, because that would be too obvious," Nestor guessed sarcastically.

"Actually, it's makeup," Gavin replied. "I used a large amount of blush to keep my complexion looking good."

Nestor and Gavin shared a laugh before Nestor placed both his hands on Gavin's shoulders.

"Be careful out there, old friend," Nestor said.

"Relax! Me, Spyro and the others got this in the bag! We'll knock Gnasty and his two cronies out faster than it takes to flame broil a sheep!" Gavin said with confidence.

"I should hope so," Nestor said with a chuckle.

Bianca packed her own things along with Hunter. After she loaded the last of her things onto the boat, she turned to see Elora talking with Spyro.

Hunter noticed and placed a hand on Bianca's shoulder who responded by turning to him. "Don't worry about Elora. She just needs to get used to you. It took her forever to start liking me," he said.

Bianca smiled as Elora walked past her.

"Elora," Bianca said to get her attention. "I know it's gonna take a while for you a lot of the others to trust me, but I want you to know, I'm gonna do everything I can to help.

Elora turned and walked up to her with a serious look. "Truth be told, part of me really wants to trust you and Spyro seems to so I guess that's good enough for me. But if you try anything, turn your back on us even once, or do anything that might hurt Spyro, you'll be getting a six foot hoof mark in your backside! Is that understood?" she said, poking at Bianca's chest.

Bianca nervously nodded before Elora turned and headed onto the ship with Spyro following behind.

"She's just in a mood, don't worry about it," Hunter said.

"Yeah, she'll learn to like you...eventually," Spyro said.

Just then, Nestor approached Spyro, giving him an approving look. "Good luck, Spyro," he said before his expression turned serious. "I realize this journey will be most difficult for you without Sparx, but do not be discouraged."

"Sparx is why I'm going in the first place," Spyro responded. "Besides, when do I ever get discouraged?"

"And if Dragon Boy here gets into trouble, we got his back," Sheila said, patting Spyro on the back before Sgt. Bryd, Agent 9, and Bentley all gave Nestor a thumbs up.

"I would expect nothing less," Nestor said with a smile.

Sgt. Byrd perched on one of the masts and looked out at the distant ocean with contemplation. "So begins my greatest undertaking in my military career," he monologued. "I've gone toe to toe with the nastiest brutes from Molten Crater and-"

Suddenly, Agent 9 surprised him from behind.

"Alright! Let's get going! So many gnorcs and rhynocs, so little time!" Agent 9 shouted.

This caused Sgt. Byrd to fall. Thankfully, Sheila caught him.

"Hey!" Sheila exclaimed, looking up at Agent 9. "Careful, mate! I know you're excited, but try to tone it down a bit!"

Bentley sighed as he looked at Agent 9 scale up to the crow's nest. "Hopefully, that primate's rambunctious nature does not hinder our efforts," he said.

All the supplies were pack, Spyro and the elder dragons said their goodbyes, and now the time for them to depart had finally come.

The captain, Peter the Pirate, released the anchor and the ship set sail.

As everyone waved goodbye, Spyro rushed to the front of the ship, looking out to the vast ocean. "Hang on, Sparx. I'm coming," he said to himself.

* * *

According to the map Oswin had provided, Illica would be to the southeast, though how far was unknown.

In the meantime, the elder dragons gathered together to concoct a strategy for when they eventually arrived at illica.

Cleetus was relaxed on one of the masts. "So, what's the plan?" he asked the other elders..

"Simple, we charge in with weapons burning and wills strong!" Titan proclaimed.

"Of course, the Peace Keeper's number one strategy; bludgeon first, ask questions never," Cosmos sneered.

"And what would you have us do? Wave around your little magic wand around?!" Titan growled.

Lateef stepped in to give his thoughts. "As obnoxious as he may be about it, Cosmos is right," he said, much to Cosmos' approval. "There's a first time for everything."

Cosmos' smile quickly turned into an annoyed sneer.

In any case, Lateef agreed that going weapons blazing into a unknown area was not the best course of action. They needed to be properly prepared for whatever awaited them.

As much as he hated to admit it, Titan had to agree as well.

"And let's not forget the elephant in the room, or rabbit," Gavin added, pointed to Bianca who was talking with Hunter.

Cosmos and Titan eyed Bianca with suspicion.

"Yes, I trust her less than I can throw her," Titan said.

So far, Bianca hadn't done anything relatively shady or underhanded, but as far as Titan, Cosmos, and Gavin were concerned, she could still strike at any moment and when they least expect it.

As far as Cleetus' opinion was on the matter, he didn't really have one as he was fast asleep.

"Ugh, Beast Makers," Cosmos groaned.

Dawn approached as Spyro and the others had been sailing for what seemed like hours.

Bentley and Sheila were engaged in a game of chess with Sgt. Byrd watching. At first it seemed as though Bentley had the upper hand, but Sheila came from behind to checkmate him, much to his chagrin.

"Um...goal?" Sgt. Byrd responded.

Meanwhile, Agent 9 frantically searched around the ocean from the crow's nest, eager to blast away at some gnorcs and rhynocs.

Elora, seeing Spyro, walked over to talk to him. "Hey. You doing OK?" she asked, elbowing him on the shoulder.

Spyro didn't notice Elora until she waved her hand and snapped her finger in front of his face. "Huh? Oh! Hey, Elora!" he sputtered.

"You really miss Sparx, huh?" Elora said.

It was true. The purple dragon recalled to his faunas friend about the times he spent with his dragonfly, remembering the time he was given Sparx as a young dragon; the many times they chased sheep, or when Spyro pulled a prank on Sparx in Dark Hollow by putting a feather on him while he was sleeping and Darius thought he was a pen and dipped him in ink.

"Sparx has been like a brother to me," Spyro said somberly.

"Well don't you worry. We'll get him back, and all the other dragonflies too!" Elora exclaimed. "With me and Hunter and the others, Ripto and those losers don't stand a chance!"

"And Bianca too?" Spyro asked curiously.

The mention of Bianca's name made Elora groan in annoyance.

And, as if right on cue, Bianca along with Hunter, approached the two. In response, Elora crossed her arms and turned her head.

"Spyro," Bianca began, nervously holding her wand. "I've um...been working on a spell...that will enable you to use different breath abilities."

Elora and Spyro eyed each other before Spyro looked back at Bianca with intrigue.

"Really?!" he asked.

"Well, I figured since you don't have Sparx...no offense...you might want to have an advantage," said Bianca. "With this spell, you'll be able to use not only your fire breath, but other elemental attacks such as ice, electricity, and water."

"Ahh, is there nothing she can't do?" Hunter said putting his arm around Bianca's shoulder.

Spyro became quite excited at the prospect of new breath abilities and was eager to try them out.

"Well I say go for it!" Spyro exclaimed.

However, before Bianca could cast the spell, Elora intervened. "Wait! Spyro, are you sure about this? I mean this could be a trick. Besides, this is probably the first time she's done a spell like this and who knows what it could do to you," she said.

"Come on! Don't be such a worry wart, Elora," said Hunter. "Bianca's got this."

"Yeah" Spyro said in agreement. "Beside, I trust her."

The purple dragon's support gained a smile from Bianca, but Elora still had her doubts, but if Spyro trusted her, the least she could do is do the same.

"Alright," Elora said to Spyro before putting a finger in Bianca's face. "But don't try anything funny.".

With Elora's somewhat blessing, Bianca began waving her wand, only to be stopped by Titan who grabbed her by arm.

"Spyro, you can't be serious, can you?!" Titan asked.

"Hey! Put her down!" Spyro demanded.

Titan reluctantly did so. Much like Elora, he wasn't fond of the idea of Bianca using a spell on Spyro.

"Yes! She could actually be using a spell to make you slower, or remove your legs entirely, or turn your tongue brown!" Cosmos suggested in terror.

"How is that bad?" Spyro asked confused.

"Seriously, brown...brroooooowwwwwwwn, that's like the worst color in the world!" Cosmos answered.

Lateef rolled his eyes and groaned before Cleetus' woke up.

"Hey, brown is my favorite color...what are we talkin' about?" asked Cleetus.

Titan informed him of the issue with Bianca and he immediately gave his opinion, which was that she should definitely cast the spell, seeing as how they would need any advantage they could get.

"Typical irrational Beast Makers thinking," Cosmos scoffed.

"I think if Bianca has a spell that can help Spyro, then it doesn't hurt to try. However, magic is not something to take lightly," said Lateef.

"For once, I'm with Lateef on this one," said Cosmos.

Bianca slumped her head down in sadness. Hunter was about to defend her, but Bianca quickly stopped him and stepped in front of him towards the elders and took a deep breath.

"Listen, guys. I know I'm just a novice when it comes to magic, but I know I can be a big help to everyone, especially Spyro! I'm not asking for much, all I'm asking for is just one chance to prove myself. The same chance that all of you had when you started out," Bianca said.

The elders stared at each other, contemplating Bianca's words as Hunter patted her on the back.

"The little gal's gotta point, ya know," said Cleetus.

Lateef looked at Bianca and gave her a grin. "Very well," he said to her.

"Fine," said Cosmos. "Just do it before I change my mind."

"Spyro, you sure about this?" asked Gavin.

"Yes," Spyro answered emphatically.

With that, Gavin gave his approval as well.

Titan crossed his arms before turning his head. "Alright," he growled.

So with that, Bianca again waved her wand, telling Spyro to stand still, and then fired a blast of magic at Spyro who felt a bit of a sting.

"Wow! That was something!" Spyro exclaimed.

Elora checked on him to see if he was alright and Spyro assured her he was fine. It was in fact the first time Bianca had performed the spell, so it's no surprise that he would feel something from it. But despite this, Bianca assured Spyro that he could now perform his new abilities.

He wanted to try his ice breath first, but wasn't sure how.

"Try thinking of something cold," Bianca suggested.

Taking Bianca's suggestion, Spyro thought about all the cold worlds he had been to in the past. To his surprise, a blizzard shot out of his mouth which hit Hunter, freezing his head in a block of ice.

Spyro was impressed as Bianca melted the ice off of Hunter and was eager to try the others out. He next tried the electric breath by thinking of thunderstorms. However, as much as he tried, nothing happened. So he tried the water breath, thinking of oceans, but like before, there was no result.

"Hey, Bianca, what's up?" Spyro asked. "I can only use my ice breath."

"Drat!" Bianca said, stomping her foot in frustration. "Something must've gone wrong with the spell."

"No kidding," Elora said.

"Hey! I'm still learning you know!" Bianca said to Elora before turning to Spyro. "If I had to guess, it'll probably be a while before your other abilities kick in."

Though Spyro wasn't keen on the idea of having to wait, it was still better than nothing. At the very least, he had something to look forward to. Though having his other abilities at the moment would've been useful for what Agent 9 spotted from the crow's nest.

"HEY! RHYNOCS AND GNORCS AT 5:00 PM!" he shouted, pointing toward the ocean.

Spyro and the others rushed to the front of the ship and were shocked at what they saw.

A flotilla of ships and multiple airships advanced towards the group. It didn't take long for one of the ships to fire a torpedo at them which just hit the side.

"I don't get it! How did they know we were coming?!" said Sheila.

"I think I know," Titan answered, glaring at Bianca.

"What?! No! I didn't! I swear!" Bianca said.

While she seemed sincere, the evidence also seem to have Bianca's name written all over it as there was no other way that Ripto, Nasty, and the Sorceress could've found out about them coming. However, evidence or not, there was no time to dwell on it as the armada drew closer. Spyro, the elders and everyone readied themselves. Now wasn't the time for suspicions, now was the time for battle.


	4. The Freeze of Battle

The ships and airships practically covered the skies and waters as they closed in on the singular ship where Spyro and the others stood. The five dragon elders stood their ground in front of Spyro and his friends, preparing themselves to fight.

"To tell you the truth, I've been itching to go a few rounds!" Gavin said, squeezing his knuckles.

"There's a lot of em.' Do you think we can take em?'" asked Cleetus.

"If Cosmos can get his nose out of the air long enough to concentrate," Lateef teased, causing Cosmos to snort.

"Come, dragons!" Titans said, before turning to Spyro and the others. "Spyro, you and the others stay here. Let us handle this."

The purple dragon was taken back a bit by Titan's comment. "What?! No! I wanna help!" he said.

"You are in no position to help right now!" Titan responded. "Without Sparx, we don't know how you will fare!"

"He has a point, Spyro," said Gavin. "Better leave this to us."

Spyro tried to use his new breath as an argument, but Titan refused to budge.

"You just got that new ability, Spyro. Not to mention you don't have any experience with it," said Lateef.

"Just stay put. We'll take care of this," said Cosmos.

With that, Lateef, Titan, Gavin, and Cosmos flew off the ship towards the armada. Cleetus just shrugged his shoulders at Spyro before taking off with them.

Titan, Cosmos, and Lateef focused on the airships while Cleetus and Gavin took care of the ships.

The airships fired multiple shots at the three dragons who dodged them using mid-air twirls and spins.

Titan took out two airships with his Ax, Cosmos used his magic to turn one of them into feathers and Lateef used his to turn another into a giant turkey which fell into the ocean.

Meanwhile, Cleetus and Gavin used their muscle to overpower the gnorcs and rhynocs on the ship. Gavin punched out a number of the pilots. One of them went for a punch, but Gavin grabbed him and threw him into the ocean before doing a victory pose, kissing his muscles. One of the ships fired at him, but he quickly flew out of the way.

Cleetus punched out a few of the pilots himself. One gnorc tried to get him from behind, but he jumped up and squashed him with his butt. "Looks like you fell a little 'flat' there," he chuckled. He flew over to another ship and gave a rhynoc a headbutt followed by a body slam.

While the elders were holding their own against most of the armada, they couldn't fend off all of them and a number of them broke through and made their way towards the ship.

"Uh oh! We're in trouble, mates! Those bogeys are closin' in fast!" said Sheila.

"Indeed! I fear our current arsenal may not be enough to withhold them!" said Bentley.

"Bring em' on! I'll blast them off the map!" said Agent 9.

As the armada drew closer, Peter addressed the four. "Not to worry, mateys! A pirate is always prepared!" he exclaimed with a sly smirk before he made a large lever appear next to the steering wheel and pulled it back.

From the sides of the ship, multiple turrets came out; two on the right side and two on the left; then a giant cannon came out the front, much to the amazement of Spyro and his friends.

Peter directed them to the turrets, all of which had seats in them. "Well? Are you all just gonna stand there like a bunch of scurvy sea snails, or are you gonna man the guns?!" he shouted.

With that; Sheila, Bentley, Agent 9, and Hunter went to a respective turret while Sgt. Byrd flew up.

"Be careful, Hunter," said Bianca before Hunter winked back at her.

"You all provide ground fire! Meanwhile, I'll provide aerial defense!" Sgt Byrd proclaimed.

Sheila and Bentley shot down a number of airships while Agent 9 just went wild.

"WOOO! ADRENALINE RUSH, BABY!" Agent 9 exclaimed.

One rhynoc ship went in from the front, but Peter countered by firing a torpedo which took it out.

The airships fired away at Sgt. Bryd who just barely dodged them and took them down with his missiles.

One of the ships torpedoes managed to hit Peter's ship on the side. Luckily, it managed to stay afloat.

Hunter shot down two ships while Agent 9 shot down three ships and a couple of airships.

Meanwhile, the elders continued to hold their ground. Titan slashed away at a few airships while Gavin knocked out a fair number of ships himself. Cleetus grabbed two pilots and threw them into the ocean, then knocked one of them out with his tail.

Cosmos took out one of the gnorc pilots, turning him into a baby. He turned and noticed a rhynoc pilot going in for a sneak attack, but Lateef turned him into a billy goat, taking him out, much to his surprise.

The two shared a complementary grin as two airships came in. They used magic to levitate them and slam them together before giving each other a thumbs up.

Though the elders and Sheila and the others held their own, they couldn't stop a few soldiers in the armada from passing through and boarding Peter's ship. Despite the elders suggestion, Spyro was ready to fight alongside Bianca and Elora, even without Sparx.

"Sorry, mates! We'd love to help ya, our hands are kinda full at the moment!" said Sheila.

Spyro gritted his teeth as the pilots boarded.

Meanwhile, Elora and Bianca stood back to back; Elora putting her fists while Bianca put up her wand.

"Any ideas?" Elora asked Bianca.

"Stay alive?" Bianca subtly suggested.

"Great idea. Why didn't I think of that?" Elora answered sarcastically.

Three rhynocs and and four gnorcs boarded the ship as Spyro and the others stood their ground.

"Come on, uglies! Bring it on!" Spyro proclaimed.

The gnorcs and rhynoc acquiesced to Spyro's request as they charged in towards him and his friends.

Spyro knocked a gnorc and a rhynoc with a charge, another gnorc with his fire breath, and tripped one rhynoc with his tail.

Meanwhile, Elora knocked down a gnorc with a roundhouse kick and another with an uppercut while Bianca nervously fended off some gnorc and rhynocs with some blasts of magic.

Spyro froze a couple of rhynocs with his ice breath and bit one gnorc in the butt.

A rhynoc dodged one of Bianca's blasts and tripped her. Bianca braced herself for the attack, but Spyro intervened and charged the rhynoc off the ship.

"Thanks, Spyro," said Bianca.

"No problem," said Spyro.

Elora gave an incredulous look towards Spyro and Bianca before a gnorc came towards her. Spyro however stopped him in his tracks with his ice breath. He then turned to Elora who gave him a slight smile before he went back to the battle.

For the moment, the three were able to hold their own, but more gnorcs and rhynocs began boarding the ship, increasing their numbers. Bianca and Elora were already exhausted, but Spyro was determined to keep going.

"Is there no end to them?!" Elora said wearily.

"Hey, the more, the merrier, I say!" Spyro exclaimed.

For a while, the three were doing as well as before, but then the soldiers started double teaming them, making things more difficult. A gnorc distracted Spyro, allowing a rhynoc to land a hard punch on him. The gnorc went for an axe handle slam, but Spyro dodged it and got him with his fire breath, the the rhynoc with his ice breath. However, one gnorc grabbed him from behind and slammed him to the floor, then two rhynoc began pounding away at him.

"Spyro!" shouted Elora before she ran towards him, only to be grabbed by a rhynoc.

The fawn struggled, but the rhynoc's grip was too strong. Luckily, Bianca was there to blast him away with her magic. Bianca offered her hand to her, but she declined.

"I'm fine," Elora said.

A gnorc came in from behind to try and attack Bianca, but Elora quickly took him down with a punch and a roundhouse kick.

"Thanks," said Bianca.

Elora stared back. "C'mon. We'd better help Spyro," she said reluctantly.

Bianca blasted away the army while Elora kicked them back.

"Spyro, are you alright?" asked Elora.

"Yeah. But who knew those guys packed such a punch?" Spyro said.

An aerial missile hit the ship, causing it to tilt to the side, making Bianca lose her balance and roll backwards and be grabbed by a rhynoc. A rhynoc grabbed her, intending to throw her into the ocean.

Spyro and Elora tried to stop him, but they were attacked by more gnorcs and rhynocs.

Hunter turned to see Bianca in the clutches of the rhynoc and did not hesitate to leave his turret and tackle him. The rhynoc got to his feet as Hunter nervously smiled at him and grabbed him by the neck, choking him, and tossed him to the side.

"Hunter!" shouted Bianca and Elora.

Bianca struggled to get free, but couldn't.

Meanwhile, one of the airships fired a missile at the turret which Hunter left, taking it out.

After Spyro took care of one gnorc, he freed Bianca by taking down the rhynoc with a tail whip.

"Spyro!" shouted Elora who was being squeezed to death by a giant gnorc.

"Bianca, look after Hunter!" Spyro commanded before going after the gnorc. "Toasted or iced?! Those are your choices unless you let her go!"

"You want her?! OK!" the gnorc said before he threw Elora right at Spyro, knocking them both down.

"Hey there," Elora said to Spyro.

"Hows it going?" Spyro asked.

"Hmm, could be a little better," Elora said with a chuckle.

Two more gnorcs accompanied the bigger one, but Spyro and Elora didn't back down. Spyro got one with his ice breath, but another shoulder tackled him. Elora retaliated with a kick, but was grabbed from behind by a rhynoc. The gnorc charged in, but Elora ducked, causing the two to run into each other. However, Spyro and Elora were not in the clear yet as they still had to deal with the big guy and it wasn't easy. He just took their attacks like they were nothing before pushing them back with his big belly.

Meanwhile, Bianca was still tending to Hunter so neither she nor him could be of any help.

While this was going one, Sheila, Agent 9, Bentley, and Sgt. Byrd did their best to fend off the armada, however, without Hunter, it proved to be more difficult. They managed to shoot down a few ships and airships, but the ship was still getting hit from left to right. It almost on the verge of sinking.

"Is that the best ye got, ya overgrown sacks of blubber?!" said Peter.

"I don't know, mate. They seem to have us pinned down at the moment," said Sheila.

"Relay that talk, lass! As long as ye have the bullets, ye stand a chance!" exclaimed Peter.

The same could not be said for Sgt. Byrd who despite his best efforts was eventually shot down by a missile, landing hard on the ship's deck.

"Sgt. Byrd!" shouted Sheila.

Meanwhile, Spyro just barely dodged an attack from the giant gnorc only to be punched by another gnorc and charged by a rhynoc. He started to have trouble getting to his feet while the giant gnorc again grabbed Elora and squeezed her.

However, he soon released his grip when a blow hit him from behind. It was Bentley's club.

"Cease and desist, you ruffian!" commanded Bentley before he swung at the gnorc again.

While Bentley was busy with the gnorc, Elora tended to Spyro who wasn't looking too up to snuff, though he tried to hide it, claiming he was just fine, still willing to fight.

Bentley and the gnorc were practically even in strength as they traded blows with Bentley landing a few hits with his club and the gnorc scoring some hard punches. However, the gnorc soon gained the upper hand with a punch to the gut, followed by grabbing Bentley's own club and hitting him with it, knocking him down. Wanting to finish him off with his bare hands, the gnorc threw down the club and went in for the kill. But as he did, Spyro used his ice breath to freeze his feet in place, allowing Bentley to grab his club and knock him out.

"Exceptional work, Spyro!" exclaimed Bentley.

"No problem. Now let's take care of the rest!" Spyro said.

"I wouldn't do that!" said a gruff voice.

Spyro and Bentley turned to see a bunch of rhynocs and gnorcs surrounding Bianca and Hunter. He gritted his teeth and was about to charge in, before being stopped by Elora.

"Take one more step and we're gonna be feasting on roasted bunny and muskrat!" said one of the rhynocs.

"Hey! I'm a cheetah, not a muskrat!" Hunter protested.

As this went on, the dragon elders continued with their end of the fight when Titan suddenly noticed Spyro and the others. He then turned to his fellow elders. "Cleetus! Lateef! Gavin! Cosmos! Go help Spyro and his friends! I'll take care of the rest!" he ordered.

The other elders were concerned for Titan's well-being but they obeyed his command, taking out the gnorcs and rhynocs while he destroyed the last of the ships and airships, putting a stop to the armada.

The narrow victory was bittersweet. Spyro and the gang were practically exhausted from the battle with Hunter and Sgt. Byrd slightly injured.

Bentley tended to Byrd's injuries while Elora and Bianca respectively tended to Spyro and Hunter.

"I don't know about you guys, but we just about escaped that by the skin of our teeth!" said Sheila.

"What?! No way! Those knuckleheads didn't stand...a chance.." Hunter said, trying to get up before falling back down.

Cleetus casually lay on one of the masts, scratching his belly. "Hey, we beat em and all that matters," he said.

"Yeah, until more of them show up," Cosmos pointed out.

The possibility of more soldiers showing up was most likely and given that the group had just barely survived the first onslaught, there was a chance they wouldn't be so lucky next time.

"Well for right now, we should focus on making sure the boys are alright because I think those lunkheads attacking us means we're getting close to the islands," said Sheila.

Cosmos observed all the damage from the battle until before seeing Bianca tending to Hunter, holding up his head. He growled as he stormed his way towards her. "This is your fault!" he shouted. "If you hadn't have opened your big mouth about us, we wouldn't have had to deal with them in the first place!"

"It wasn't her fault!" Hunter protested.

"Yes it is! How else would they have known we were coming?! And now you're hurt as well! Guess she doesn't care about you as much as she claims!" Cosmos retorted.

For Bianca, that comment was the final straw. "How dare you?!" she said, quickly getting to her feet, inadvertently dropping Hunter's head on the floor.

"Ow," Hunter said subtly.

"Oops, sorry Hunter," Bianca said softly before turning to Cosmos. "Now listen here, you arrogant pile of scales! If you don't trust me, that's fine! You can say what you want about me! But don't you dare say I don't care about Hunter!"

This made Cosmos back up a bit before Titan approached the two.

"Be that as it may, yes, we still don't trust you. Which is why we are gonna keep a close eye on you," Titan said.

"I don't wanna jump to conclusions, but I think keeping an eye on you is best. Just to make sure you don't cause any trouble," said Gavin.

Cosmos quickly nodded in agreement while Lateef reluctantly did so. As did Sheila and the others. Bianca turned to Cleetus who just shrugged indifferently.

"Alright," she sighed. " If that's what you want, then fine."

So it was decided that Bianca would be watched very closely. And at no more an appropriate time as Agent 9 shouted out.

"ISLAND HO!"

Indeed, it seemed as though the gang's travels were finally over for ahead of them. However, upon closer inspection, Agent 9 wasn't entirely sure what he saw in front of him was an island.

Lateef and Gavin flew closer to get a better look.

"It is an island!" proclaimed Lateef.

"Yeah!" Gavin concurred. "But it looks like...a staircase?"


	5. A Hidden Gem

Yes, based on the layout of the islands, it did make it appear like a staircase, but it in fact wasn't. The three islands were within a straight line of each other, each one taller than the last one, consisting of a canyon, a meadow, and a mountain.

Considering the huge assault they had just dealt with, the gang figured they must've finally arrived at Illica and if the armada was difficult to overcome, they could only imagine what Ripto, the Sorceress, and Gnasty had in store for them on the islands.

Spyro was still pretty exhausted from the assault as he tried to catch his breath.

Elora walked over to him. "Spyro, are you OK?" she asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine," Spyro answered. "I just got the wind knocked out of me a little."

"That's because you're not used to fighting without Sparx," Gavin said, approaching the two. "In addition to companionship, a dragonfly's magic helps protect dragons in even the stickiest of situations."

"You mean like a magic barrier?" asked Elora.

"Exactly," said Gavin. "So when a dragonfly is separated from its dragon, as you can see, it can cause all sorts of problems."

With this news in mind, Elora's worry for Spyro increased more than it already had. "Spyro, maybe you should sit this one out," she suggested.

"What?! No way! I came to find Sparx and that's what I'm gonna do! Besides, once my other breaths kick in, I should have no problem," Spyro said confidently.

"Don't be overconfident, Spyro," said Lateef, joining in the conversation. "We still don't know how long it will take for your new abilities to surface. Until then, you should learn to trust in your other abilities; your body and your mind."

"In other words, don't be a hardhead, Spyro," Elora said, giving Spyro a hard knock on the head.

And so, the group finally landed at the shore of the first of the three islands.

* * *

Back at the castle, through the observance of a crystal ball; the three villains watched as the group landed on the island, much to Ripto's annoyance.

"Curse that meddlesome dragon! Even with a battalion and without his dragonfly, he can't be put down!" he growled, stamping on the table on which the crystal ball sat.

"Cool your horn, little lizard," the Sorceress said in response. "Question, a hyena desires a tasty, juicy warthog, but can't do so, because his efforts are deterred by a large pack of lions, how does the hyena deal with the situation?"

It didn't take long for Ripto to figure out the answer as he and the Sorceress exchanged sinister grins.

"Um...he goes on a meerkat diet?" Gnasty guessed.

In response, the Sorceress whacked him with her scepter. "No, gnorc brain! You separate the lions...from the warthogs," she said.

"Oh..." said Gnasty before leaving.

"Wait, where are you going?" Ripto asked.

"To find some lions," answered Gnasty.

The Sorceress and Ripto facepalmed in aggravation.

* * *

Before the group departed, Bianca cast a healing spell on both Hunter and Sgt. Byrd leaving the two feeling much better than before, though the spell did not completely heal them. Bianca of course was still learning her magic and the healing spell was one she had just learned. Still it was enough that Hunter and Byrd were able to join the others.

Bentley used a stone and rope to hold the ship in place before everyone started making their way off.

Bianca accompanied Hunter, but with Titan close by, wanting to make sure she didn't try anything funny.

With everything set, the group moved forward into the canyon which towered over the group like a skyscraper. It was purple in color with streaks of rainbow and multicolored crystals stuck out from the canyon walls.

Most of the group couldn't help but be impressed as the crystals shimmered and glowed.

"Amazing!" exclaimed Sheila.

"Indeed, but I'm afraid we do not have time for sight seeing. There are dragonflies to be found!" commanded Byrd.

"Yeah, but where do we start looking?" asked Elora.

Considering there were three huge islands, finding the dragonflies would not be an easy task, especially since Ripto, the Sorceress, and Gnasty more than likely were not gonna just hide them in plain sight.

What didn't help matters was that the inside of the canyon was like a maze with numerous tunnels and caverns in multiple directions. One wrong move and one could easily get lost.

"By the time we find Sparx and the others, the dragon elders will be in wheelchairs," Spyro said.

Elora and Bianca both chuckled at Spyro's comment while the elders and glared at him.

"Maybe we should split up," suggested Bianca.

"Nice try," Cosmos sneered.

Suddenly, Spyro heard a sound coming from beneath the canyon walls.

As they pondered exactly what the sound was, the ground beneath them started to rumble and a bit of the earth began to upturn, then it traveled around them, making its way above them.

"Brace yourselves, guys!" Spyro said.

The gang prepared themselves as a head popped out from the cave ceiling. They couldn't make it out due to the shadows, but it's eyes glowed ominously as the head hung upside down. The gang didn't know who or what the creature was, but they figured it was probably one the villains' goons and Spyro was more than ready to torch him.

But just then, the head and body all suddenly fell from the ceiling onto the ground, landing on its head.

The gang was left confused, but nonetheless kept their guard up.

As the creature got to its feet away from the shadows, his appeared was made more clear as he rubbed his head.

He was a dark purple mole, slightly taller then Spyro. Gems covered his body and he even had whiskers made out of gems.

"Oh my, that was unpleasant," the mole said.

Titan placed his ax to the mole's face. "Who are you?!" he demanded.

"Oh! My apologies! Forgive me if I scared you, I'm rather awkward with first meetings...and second...and third...as well as fourth. My name is Zircon and it is a pleasure to make your acquaintance. Though I wish it were under better circumstances," the mole said.

"Easy, Titan. He seems cool," said Spyro.

"Uh yes, very cool...dude..." Zircon said.

"Please don't do that," Spyro said in a monotone voice.

"Apologies," said Zircon.

Titan reluctantly backed away before Spyro introduced himself and the others. Zircon took specific notice to Sheila and walked over to her.

"Pleasure to make your acquaintance, my lady," Zircon said, holding Sheila's hand as he gave her a bow.

"Well, well, you're certainly the gentlemen, mate," Sheila said in response.

Hunter and Bianca noticed this and chuckled at each other.

Suddenly, there was another sound in the caves. It was almost like a machine. And not just one, but multiple machines.

"OK, where's that coming from?" asked Elora.

"That is coming from our other 'guests,'" Zircon answered with air quotes.

Spyro figured Zircon must've been talking about the three villains and told him of why he and the others had come to Illica. Zircon was overjoyed at the fact that a bunch of heroes came around and thus offered to show them the way to where the noise was coming from.

"Well I'd venture to guess this bloke knows his way around these parts. And since we're new here, we could use a tour guide," said Sheila.

"Well it does make sense that he would know the way," said Cosmos.

"And we've got no better options," said Lateef.

"Other than to do it ourselves, said Gavin.

"Welp, I guess we're doin' it," said Cleetus.

"Then we have no time to waste," said Titan.

With Zircon leading the way, the gang followed the sound through a series of caves.

During their travel, Spyro eyed the gem covered mole with curiosity. "So, if you don't mind my asking, what up with the gems? Is that just a fashion statement or what?" he asked Zircon.

"Oh no, Mr. Spyro Sir," said Zircon. "These are a part of me. You see, I am a gem mole."

Sheila hopped over to Zircon and Spyro. "A gem mole you say?" she asked.

"Yes, Ms. Sheila. We feed off of gems," said Zircon.

"You...eat gems," Spyro asked confused.

Zircon demonstrated this by jumping onto the cave walls, grabbing a gem, and taking a bite out of it. "Yes, they're quite delicious. Want some?" asked offering it to Spyro.

"Uh, no thanks. I'm on a gem free diet," Spyro said.

"However, our gems stores have been dwindling greatly ever since Ripto and those other guys landed here. They've captured all of my other fellow moles," Zircon said solemnly.

"Well don't you worry, mate. We're gonna set all your friends free!" Sheila proclaimed, giving Zircon a smack on the back.

"Well, thank you, Ms. Sheila," said Zircon, blushing.

Zircon continued leading the gang towards the noise until they came upon an opening where they spotted a gnorc and a rhynoc standing guard. They quickly hid to the sides of the walls so as not to be seen.

"Let me handle this," said Cosmos before he fired his scepter at the gnorc and the rhynoc, turning them both into chickens.

Spyro used his fire breath to send them both packing and then he and the gang hid to the side of the cave exit.

It was here they discovered the source of the noise; a bunch of gnorcs and rhynocs using digging machines and jackhammers to dig up the crystals from the walls. The crystals were then gathered up in carts. It was like a mining facility.

"Ol' Moneybags would have a field day here," Spyro whispered.

As Zircon had stated, many of the other moles had been locked in cages. In addition, a small group of dragonflies were trapped inside a container.

Just then, another sound was heard, but this time, it was the sound of Ripto's voice on a speaker.

"Attention, loyal, if not incredibly brain dead minions; I would like to commend you on your surprisingly fantastic work in our crystal mines. Production is going along quite smoothly. I hope that you are especially kind and courteous to our guests," Ripto said.

"Uh oh," Sheila said in response.

"Oh dear," said Zircon immediately after.

Suddenly, the ground near the gang shook. They turned around to see a gnorc and a rhynoc behind them, both massive in size, and carrying large spears with crystal daggers at the ends with each dagger containing a dragonfly that made the spears glow bright.

"Back up!" Gavin instructed.

"What?! Never! A Peace Keeper never surrenders!" Titan protested.

"No, but he does back up if he wants more room to fight," said Cosmos.

Despite this, Titan held his ground as the two monsters charged at them.

The rest of the gang retreated to the outside of the cave while Titan elected to fight both.

Both the rhynoc and gnorc knocked him down and went after Spyro and the others.

"Don't just stand there, you long-tongued losers! Get them!" Ripto shouted.

At Ripto's command, the other gnorcs and rhynocs grabbed a bunch of swords and hammers made out of crystals from wooden boxes. To make matters more difficult, another large rhynoc and gnorc with crystal spears appeared as well and they, along with the others, surrounded Spyro and his friends.

"All right, soldiers! Prepare for battle!" commanded Sgt. Byrd.

"I am always ready! Bring it on!" exclaimed Agent 9.

"Indeed! Let us engage our foes with relentless vigor!" exclaimed Bentley before the gnorcs and rhynocs ambushed them.

"But we gotta be careful not to harm the dragonflies!" Elora pointed out..

Sheila took out a couple of gnorcs with her kicks while Bentley knocked away some rhynocs with his club and Agent 9 used his blaster and Sgt. Byrd used his missiles on them.

Spyro used his fire and ice breaths to take out a couple of gnorcs, then tripped one gnorc with his tail, and finally headbutted a rhynoc.

Gavin took out a horde of rhynocs with his tail while Titan used his ax on a few gnorcs and rhynocs, then his fire breath. One of the big rhynocs engaged him, managing to take him back a few steps, but he held his own.

Elora fought off a couple of rhynocs with punches and kicks, but then two gnorcs grabbed her. One rhynoc went to hit her in the head with a hammer, but was grabbed from behind by Cleetus who then dropped him down hard to the ground. Elora gave him a thumbs up before one of the big gnorcs threw his bow staff at him. Cleetus managed to avoid it, getting it stuck in the canyon wall before flying in towards the gnorc, but the gnorc dodged him and jump high in the air to grab the spear.

Meanwhile, Hunter pounced on a few rhynocs and knocked out a couple of gnorc with some strong kicks.

The second big rhynoc charged at Gavin who grabbed him by the horn and pushed him back. Gavin went for a punch, but the rhynoc caught him and hit him with a punch of his own.

Titan managed to push back the big rhynoc as two gnorcs ran towards him. He took both of the out with his ax and then a third one with his tail just before the big rhynoc got him with an uppercut.

Agent 9 blasted away at some more rhynocs while Sheila stomped on some with her feet and Hunter took out a few with his arrows.

Meanwhile, Zircon found himself surrounded by a group of gnorcs. "Um...hello there," he stammered. "Love what you've done with the cave. The loud machines really bring out the colors."

As the gnorcs went in, Sheila took them out with a bunch of kicks.

"The machines bring out the colors? Really, mate?" Sheila asked with a raised eyebrow.

Zircon smiled awkwardly before a rhynoc struck Sheila from behind. He did not take too kindly to this and responded by rolling into a ball and knocking the rhynoc down. "I do hate violence, but you left me no choice," he said politely before he walked up to Sheila and helped her to her feet.

Bianca tried to fend off some gnorcs with her magic, but one of them tripped her, grabbed her by the ears, swung her around and flung her in the air. Fortunately, she was caught by Spyro.

"Thanks," said Bianca.

"No problem. Maybe you should get those tied," Spyro said, pointing to Bianca's ears.

Bianca chuckled as she blushed.

Elora looked on indifferently before a rhynoc sent her flying hard into the canyon wall with a strike from his hammer.

Seeing this infuriated Spyro as he sent said rhynoc flying with a charge. But just as he was about to go to check on Elora, one of the big gnorcs grabbed and slammed him multiple times into the ground before Cleetus made the save again by charging into him. However, the rhynoc grabbed him and flung him hard into the wall.

Meanwhile, Elora was holding her back in pain as multiple gnorcs and rhynocs surrounded her. Due to the pain, she was unable to get to her feet. The gnorcs and rhynocs went in for the charge, but they were soon caught from behind with a magical blast from Bianca which caused them all to shrink to the size of mouses.

After the tiny gnorcs and rhynocs ran away, Bianca went up to Elora. "Are you OK?" she asked.

"Other than the massive back pain, I think I'll be fine," said Elora, cringing.

At Bianca's behest, Elora kept herself still while she performed her healing spell on her. Like before it didn't completely heal her, but at least her back was in less pain than before.

"Thanks," Elora said reluctantly.

A few gnorcs and rhynocs charged in towards the two, but Hunter was able to knock them back. He gave both of them a wink before going back into the battle.

This made Elora roll her eyes while Bianca just blushed.

As the battle continued, Gavin knocked a large rhynoc down with a punch. As he observed the battlefield, he began to noticed the others getting worn out. They were holding their own, but it was only a matter of time before they got outmatched. He knew at that moment, he and the others needed to focus on what was really important.

Cleetus was getting beat down by a large gnorc before Gavin knocked him away with his tail.

"Go with Spyro and the others. Me, Titan, Cosmos, and Lateef will handle things here," Gavin instructed.

"We can't leave you," Spyro protested, overhearing.

"We'll be fine! Just go!" Gavin commanded before flying off.

On Gavin's orders, Cosmos created a magic barrier which held the gnorcs and rhynocs back. Gavin then proceeded to break the container with the dragonflies, using his tail, setting them free. Lateef gathered the frantic baby dragonflies together and used a spell to lead them out of the cave and back to the ship.

The dragonflies were free and the massive gnorcs and rhynocs were held back for the moment; so, on Cleetus' orders, Spyro and the gang retreated out of the cave, lead by Zircon whom Sheila rolled out of the battlefield.

Lateef made the barrier disappear and he and the others elders continued with their struggle.

Spyro stopped and looked back incredulously as the elders continued fighting before being approached by Elora.

"Come on Spyro! Don't worry about them! They got this! Let's just go!" Elora pleaded.

Reluctantly, Spyro nodded and went with Elora and the others.

* * *

The gang was a good distance away from the battle now as not a sound could be heard, save for the drills and hammers. It was at this moment that the exhausted gang took a moment to breathe.

Though a good number of dragonflies had been freed, there were still the ones who had been used in the weapons by the gnorcs and rhynocs and Spyro and the others could only hope they could free them as well.

"Crikey! Those muscleheads almost ate us for lunch!" Sheila said.

"Indeed. While our efforts were commendable, I fear we would have eventually succumbed to their combined might," said Bentley.

"Even with Bianca's spell, I'm gonna feel this in the morning," said Elora, holding her back.

"Obviously, Ripto and the other guys aren't playing around this time," said Hunter.

"They weren't playing around before," Bianca pointed out.

"And we can't afford to do the same either!" Spyro said emphatically. "There are more dragonflies to find, so let's find them!"

"Right, but where do we start?" Cleetus pondered before turning to Zircon.

Seeing as how Zircon was a native of the island, Cleetus figured he must've known some places to search. Perhaps a few portals even.

"Why yes, Mr. Cleetus. There are a few portals around here and I know where each of them is. I could take you to one of them if you like," said Zircon.

"Could you take us to the closest one, mate?" asked Sheila.

"Certainly, Ms. Sheila," Zircon said.

The gem mole lead the gang down one of the tunnels, eventually bringing them to a portal at the end.

The portal was a unique looking one to say the least. It was covered in fire and debris with smoke coming out. Just above the entrance read the words; 'War City.'

Just from the look of the portal, the gang didn't have very positive feelings of what awaited them beyond it. But they had a mission to complete and they were gonna do it.

Spyro was the first to enter along with Elora. Bianca and Hunter were next, followed by Sheila, Sgt. Byrd, Bentley, and Agent 9; Zircon, and finally Cleetus.

And so with that, the gang entered the first world of Illica, not sure of what to expect, but ready to face it.


	6. A City at War

It seemed as though a large portion of the villains' plan had managed to work as they were able to separate almost all of the elders from the group. They watched in satisfaction from the castle as the remaining elders were just barely holding their own against their soldiers.

The Sorceress puffed her chest with her nose held high in the air. "What did I tell you, Ripto? Delicious warthogs ripe for the picking," she boasted.

Ripto couldn't help but be a little impressed which he expressed with a slight smirk.

Gnasty however, was indifferent about the situation. "Um, but what about the other elder? He's still with the dragon," he pointed out.

"Don't worry your thick head about, Gnasty. With four less meddlesome elder to think about, Spyro and the others will be easy pickings," the Sorceress responded.

"But it doesn't hurt to have a little insurance policy just in case," Ripto said before he snapped his fingers. "Crush! Gulp!"

And almost as if on cue, Ripto's two cohorts; Crush and Gulp appeared before him and the other two, though not in the most dignified of ways as they rolled into a pile, fighting over a piece of cake, much to Ripto's annoyance.

"Boss! Gulp is hogging the last piece of cake!" Crush whined.

"I saw it first!" Gulp whined back.

With a growl, Ripto kicked the cake out of Crush's hand. The two stopped their arguing as a result and stood still, trembling before their master.

"Forget about the cake, you muscle-brained morons! I have a job for you," Ripto said.

Upon their master's command, Crush and Gulp headed on their way to the portal to War City.

"Hmph, they're like two massive children...much like I was with mother," the Sorceress observed with a chuckle.

* * *

Sand, sand, and more sand. That was all Spyro and the gang saw in the vast, lifeless desert that seemed to go on forever. As much, they experienced it first hand as gusts of sands blasted across their faces. Luckily, they had Cleetus' massive body to act as a shield.

What didn't help was the immense heat, especially for someone with as much fur as Bentley.

Hunter seemed to have the worst of it as he lay on the desert ground, looking up with his hand reaching out to the hot sun. "The heat...the sweltering heat...I can't go on...getting dark...and hot...tell Bianca...I love her..." he said before fainting.

Bianca and Elora stood over Hunter, looking at each other, sighing with annoyance, before looking back to him.

"Hunter, stop being melodramatic," Elora said.

"We've only been here 7 minutes," said Bianca.

Hunter quickly opened his eyes in response. "Oh, hehe...felt like eight," he said.

Bianca sighed again before taking Hunter's hand and helping him up.

"Hunter, stop fooling around," Spyro said, walking up to him. "We gotta find someway out of this desert."

"I'd help ya if I could, but I'm a swamp dragon, not a desert dragon," said Cleetus.

Agent 9 popped his head out of the sand, much like a mole, looking for any sign of civilization. "Nothing here...nothing here...nothing here...or here, or here, or here, or here, or here, OR HERE!" he exclaimed.

Sheila turned to Zircon. "Any ideas how we can get out of here, Zirc?" she asked.

"Afraid not, Ms. Sheila. This is actually the first time I've been to this world," said Zircon.

Even though Cleetus didn't know his way around the desert, he did have an idea as he looked to Sgt. Byrd. "Hey bird!" he called.

"Yes, sir!" Byrd responded.

"Think you can fly up and see if there's anything ahead?" Cleetus asked.

"Indeed, sir! Can do!" Byrd exclaimed.

At Cleetus' request, Byrd flew up and around the desert, looking for signs of life. At first, he didn't find anything, looking to the north and east sides, so he then decided to go west. After a bit of flying, he discovered what looked like the silhouette of some skyscrapers and other buildings. It appeared as though there was a city ahead which was a huge relief for him and the others.

Byrd returned to Spyro and the gang to deliver the information, much to the delight of all of them.

"Excellent work, Mr. Byrd!" said Zircon.

"Indeed! Your efforts have proven most efficacious," said Bentley.

Byrd bowed in respects to his friend's compliments.

A city meant of course there was life which could also mean a chance at finding some dragonflies, including Sparx, so this was of course good news to all of them.

What was not good news to them was what they soon encountered on their way to the city. From a massive dust of the desert wind, multiple silhouettes approached them, accompanied by the sound of revving engines,

The gang stood their ground with Hunter holding onto Bianca and Agent 9 holding up his blaster.

Soon, the silhouettes surrounded them, circling them.

Bentley and Sheila prepared themselves while Zircon hid behind Sheila, trembling.

After the dust finally cleared, the figures, who were in fact riding on motorcycles, removed their helmets and revealed themselves.

They appeared to be a gang, four of them in total, consisting of anthropomorphic reptiles; a red viper with bright yellow eyes and a green mo-hawk; a purple cobra with yellow spiky hair; the biggest member, a light brown Gila monster; and a light blue frog with black spots wearing dark sunglasses.

They were all wearing black leather jackets with metal spikes, blue jeans, and black boots.

"I have a feeling this might be the welcoming crew," Hunter said nervously.

"And strangely, I don't feel welcome," said Bianca, holding out her wand.

Spyro growled and trembled as the frog got off his motorcycle and took off his sunglasses, approaching him with a slight smirk.

"So...unless my eyes are deceiving me, you seem to be...a purple dragon. Am I right?" the frog said in a low voice.

"Yeah...what of i-" Spyro asked before immediately being grabbed by the frog.

"Oh my goodness, oh my goodness! An actual purple dragon! I can't believe it!" the frog exclaimed swinging Spyro around. "Ever since I was a little tadpole, my mom told me stories about the legendary purple dragon, but low and behold, I am in the present of an actual purple dragon! EEEEEEEE!"

After putting down Spyro, the frog jumped up and down like a giddy schoolgirl, much to the annoyance of his fellow gang members.

"Sorry about him. We told him to keep his composure. He's a, lore enthusiast," the' viper said.

"To sssay the least," the cobra said.

The frog composed himself, straightening his jacket and putting his sunglasses back on. "So...what is a dragon doing here?" he quickly said.

Spyro raised an eyebrow before answering, introducing himself and the others and telling them about their mission and the gang immediately knew what the dragon and his friends were referring to.

The gang then each introduced themselves.

First was the purple cobra, who upon seeing Elora, hurried over to her and took her by the hand, much to Spyro's displeasure, "I'm Sssspike Tooth. Pleasure to make your acquaintansssssse," he said.

"Um...thank you?" Elora said uncertain how to feel of Spike Tooth's obvious advancing.

Next was the viper who rolled his eyes at Spike Tooth with a groan of slight annoyance. "I'm Slither. How ya doin?" he said abruptly, crossing his arms.

Sheila hopped over to the Gila monster to introduce herself. "Hey there, mate. Name's Sheila," she said waving to him.

There was no response from the Gila monster who just sat on his motorcycle, stoic and silent. Sheila tried again with the same results, then a third time, but still nothing. So she then tried giving him a light tap on the chest, which did get a reaction, but not the kind she expected as the big hulking reptile immediately cowered behind his motorcycle. She was taken back a bit, but then went over to see if he was OK.

The shivering Gila monster stammered, trying to introduce himself until Slither intervened.

"He's Dirtbag," Slither said again abruptly.

"Sorry, he's a little shy," said the frog.

Spyro, turned his attention away from Spike Tooth for a moment and turned to the frog. "So, Mr. Dragon fanboy, who are you?" he asked sharply.

The frog answered, "Name's Toadstool. And you can call us, Cold Blooded!"

With the introduction out of the way, the four bikers did a group pose in front of Spyro and his friends.

"Yeah..." Spyro said, unimpressed. "Did you see a golden dragonfly by any chance? Goes by the name of Sparx?"

Neither Toadstool nor any of his gang could recall any dragonfly by that name, which was disheartening to Spyro.

Suddenly, the sounds of explosives could be hear coming from the city, which made Hunter jump into Bianca's arms.

"Maybe we should talk about this somewhere else," Toadstool suggested. "Hey, you guys hungry?"

As if on cue, Cleetus' stomach growled immensely, followed by Hunter's, Agent 9's, Bentley's and most of the gang.

"I'm gonna take that as a 'yes'" said Slither.

Toadstool and his fellow gang members escorted Spyro and his friends through the desert, lending them all helmets to keep the sand out of their eyes.

Eventually, they came to what looked like a small roadside cafe. It was rather grungy looking, like it could collapse at any moment, with broken windows and a front door that was slanted at the side. Above in bright red letters read the words, 'Big Nasty's.' The 'Y' in the word 'nasty's' broke off and fell.

"Well, here we are," said Toadstool.

"This is a place to get food?" Elora asked in disbelief.

"Trusssst usss. You're gonna love it," said Spike Tooth, again holding Elora's hand.

Spyro walked in between the two. "Ugh! Can we just go in already?!" he groaned.

The two gangs headed inside and suffice to say, the inside didn't look any better than the outside.

The floor had cracks as far as the eye could see, the furniture was covered from head to toe in dust and the cafe itself was barely lit by the dim bulbs, some of which flickered nonstop.

Spyro and the most of the gang cringed at the sight of the unkempt cafe, though Cleetus was indifferent.

Toadstool directed them to the counter and they all took a seat on a stool.

Bianca flinched as she felt something on her right hand. She turned to see what looked like a gooey green substance that stuck to it. "Eww! What is this?!" she asked.

"That's mucus," Slither said bluntly.

Bianca flailed in disgust, trying to get the substance off of her.

Toadstool turned to the source of the mucus, a black leather wearing goat. "Billy! What did we say about sneezing on the table?!" he said.

"This eating establishment does not appear to have the most radiant of presentations," said Bentley.

"Say what?" Toadstool asked, confused.

"It's GROSS!" Bianca shouted.

"Yeah. We get that a lot...until they try the food," said a voice.

From out of the kitchen doors came the proprietor of the cafe; a large navy blue hippo wearing a white apron that read, 'Big Nasty,' who approached the two gangs at the counter.

"Let me guess, you're Big Nasty?" Spyro asked rhetorically.

"You know, everybody figures that out right away without an introduction. How is that?" the hippo asked, scratching his head.

"Yeah it's a mystery alright," Slither and Elora said sarcastically.

Big Nasty jovially greeted Cold Blooded as well as Spyro and his friends. Cold Blooded were routine visitors to the cafe and some of his favorite customers.

"So what'll ya have today, boys?" Big Nasty asked.

"Give us the special and our new friends too," said Toadstool.

"One Big Nasty burger comin' up!" Big Nasty exclaimed before rushing back into the kitchen.

"Big Nasty burger? I don't like the sound of that," Hunter whispered to Spyro through gritted teeth.

In no time at all, Big Nasty returned with a huge tray of burgers and presented them to the two gangs.

"Tada! If I do say so myself," Big Nasty with a chuckle.

Spyro and the others got a good look at the burgers.

They were medium in size. In addition to the standard patty, they had cheese, onion rings, chili, bacon and a sunny side up egg. The greasy yolk of the fried egg ran down the burgers, mixing in with the chili.

Elora gave the burgers a sniff and wasn't too keen on the smell.

Bianca was grossed out by how messy the burgers were.

"These look like a heart attack waiting to happen," Bianca whispered to Elora.

"No kidding," Elora whispered back.

"Hey, don't knock it till ya try it," Hunter said. He tried to be optimistic even though he himself did not care for the appearance of the burger which began bubbling.

Zircon held his mouth, trying to hold back the urge to vomit, but kept his composure so as not to be rude.

Cleetus wasn't too bothered. In addition to the cafe, the look of the burger wasn't anything compared to the Beast Makers world where warthogs took baths in swamp water, so this wasn't anything that he couldn't handle.

Agent 9 poked at his burger. "Uh, guys, I think mine moved," he said.

Suffice to say, the food, like the cafe was none too appealing to most of the crew, save for Cold Blooded who practically lived there. Once Toadstool and his gang got their burgers, they immediately began scarfing them down.

Spyro and the others watched in disgust as their mouths became covered with chili, cheese, and egg yolk.

Unable to take it anymore, Zircon shivered and twitched until he finally asked Big Nasty where the restroom was.

Big Nasty directed him in the direction of two doors down to the right and Zircon immediately rushed in.

"Guess he was too full," Toadstool surmised before taking Zircon's burger. "Oh well, more for me!"

Cold Blooded seem to like the food, but Spyro and the gang were still hesitant.

"Come on, fellas! It won't bite. Unless you bite it," Big Nasty teased with a hefty chuckle.

Finally, Cleetus decided to give it a shot. With both hands, he grabbed the burger and lifted it up from the plate. The chili and yolk dripped off his hands as he inched it closer and closer to his mouth. He opened up and gave it a bite.

Suddenly, a sensation like nothing he had ever felt before overcame him. His taste buds exploded from the immense flavor. Never in all his life had he ever tasted something like this.

"Wow! That is good!" he exclaimed.

Immediately, Cleetus opened his mouth wider and gulped down the rest of the burger.

Big Nasty smiled at the sight another satisfied customer.

Seeing this, Spyro and the gang were the next to try them. One by one, they all took a bite and no sooner after they took that first bite that they also began gobbling theirs down.

Big Nasty welled up with pride in his work. At Cleetus' request, he made him another burger which Cleetus' swallowed in one bite.

"Delicious!" Cleetus' exclaimed. "After this dragonfly business is over, I gotta come back here!'

"Ditto!" said Hunter.

"Agreed!" Elora and Bianca said.

"Why thank you, friends. I'm just happy to see satisfied faces," Big Nasty exclaimed.

As Spyro looked across the counter, seeing everyone enjoying themselves, a smile came across his face. Despite the unappealing atmosphere, it was nice to just sit back, relax, and enjoy a meal, especially after being in the hot desert. At this moment, he couldn't help but think of Sparx and the time they took time and relaxed together, whether it was on the beach at Dragon Shores or just looking up at the stars in Dark Hollow.

"Big Nasty is the best cook in all of War City," said Toadstool.

"Aw, ya flatter me, Toadstool," Big Nasty said, blushing.

"It's true. Big Nasty's never made a bad thing in his life," said Slither.

"In the kitchen, he'ssss a genius," said Spike Tooth.

Dirtbag nodded in agreement.

Big Nasty's face turned beet red. "Ah shucks!" he said before his face turned to a more serious tone. "Though lately, I haven't been able to share my genius with as many people as I would like. Thanks to them gnorcs and rhy-nercs,"

"So they're here too," Spyro said, unsurprised.

"Yessss," said Spike Tooth.

"They came here a few days ago. They've taken over the entire city and captured all the citizens," said Slither.

Dirtbag quivered his lips, almost to the point of tears. "And they're just...just...not nice..." he whimpered.

Slither patted him on the shoulder to calm him down.

"Yeah, thanks to those guys, I've had fewer customers than normal," said Big Nasty.

"Well don't you worry, we'll toast those jerks, no sweat!" said Spyro.

"Big sweat," Toadstool retorted. "They're large in numbers and they've got the whole city covered from top to bottom."

"One sssstep inssside and you're asss good asss dead," Spike Tooth added.

Just then, Big Nasty slapped a hand on the counter and gave a confident smile to both groups. "True, but why step... when you can ride?" he said.

Spyro and the gang and Cold Blooded eyed each other confused.

Big Nasty walked over to the kitchen doors, opened them, and motioned for them to follow him.

Admittedly, Toadstool wasn't sure what was on Big Nasty's mind, but he was curious. He'd known him long enough to know he was a nice enough guy, so there was no reason to think anything else. With that thought in mind, he and the rest of Cold Blooded went inside.

Though hesitant at first, Spyro and the others followed behind. As they went inside, Zircon popped out of the restroom holding a towel.

"Mr. Nasty, your lavender scented towels are simply breathtaking!" Zircon exclaimed. "Hey, where'd everybody go?"


	7. Leather You Like It or Not

Spyro and his friends were engulfed by the smell of bacon grease and fried chicken as well the sight of melted cheese as Big Nasty jovially guided them through the kitchen.

The smell was enough to make Zircon gag, though Sheila patted him on the back to comfort him.

Normally, Big Nasty wouldn't do something like this during work hours, but considering the recent lack of customers, he figured it wouldn't do much harm to business.

"Sssso what'sss thisss all about?" asked Spike Tooth.

"Yeah, what are you hiding?" asked Toadstool.

Big Nasty clapped his hands excitedly. "You're about to find out!" he answered giddily before he stopped in his tracks. "OK, fellas, here it is!"

Spyro and the others looked at each other curiously as Big Nasty motioned his hands at a door.

"Uh...that's a door,'' said Hunter, thinking that was all Big Nasty wanted to show them.

Spyro and the others all stared at Hunter with slightly annoyed faces.

"It's what behind the door that's the surprise," Big Nasty explained before opening it.

At his request, Spyro and the others followed him through the door, which led down a flight of stairs. As they walked down, it got much darker, which caused Agent 9 to stop.

"Um...say guys. Maybe I should stay here and guard the entrance. You know, make sure no ugly gnorcs or rhynocs rear their ugly heads," Agent 9 said, holding up his blaster, slightly shaking.

"Aren't you curious as to what Big Nasty has to show us?" asked Bentley.

"Nah, I can wait. You guys just go on. One monkey too many, you know!" Agent 9 said.

"Wait...you're not afraid of the dark, are you?" Elora asked with a slight smile.

"Afraid of the dark?! Me?! HA! Are you kidding?! I eat the dark for breakfast! Every morning, I have a bacon and dark sandwich!" Agent 9 said enthusiastically.

"Then come on," Elora suggested.

"Don't really feel like it today. I'll just guard the entrance. OK?! OK!" Agent 9 quickly said before rushing back up to the entrance.

With that, Spyro and the others continued.

"Sheesh, never pegged that monkey to be afraid of the dark," Spyro said to Elora who giggled.

Reaching the bottom, the group found themselves in an underground basement. It was so dark, they almost couldn't see their noses in front of their faces.

After coming to the center of the room, Big Nasty told them to stay put before he rushed over to a light switch and turned the lights on.

"Tada!" Big Nasty shouted profoundly.

From out of nowhere, Agent 9 appeared before the group. "So uh..area's clear..yep," Agent 9 said.

Spyro and Elora just rolled their eyes, before Agent 9 gasped at what he saw.

With the lights turned on, the now lit basement revealed before Spyro and his friends what looked to be a series of vehicles. Though these vehicles were of strange design, almost like each one was like multiple vehicles mish-mashed together, albeit somewhat intimidating.

One was a large bathtub with monster truck wheels that had twin machine guns in the front. Connected to it from the right and left sides were sidecars with mounted turrets.

Another was a red car with metal spikes out the front and grey spikes all around it. It had small wheels at the front and big wheels at the rear and at its front was a large machine gun turret.

There was a vehicle with the front of a hummer and the back of a big rig truck with a machine gun at the top.

Another vehicle was a car with large drills in the front and spikes.

And there was a big rig truck with machine guns, turrets, and cannons.

In addition, there was a multitude of different kinds of cars and trucks, each with unique designs.

Agent 9's eyes bulged open at sight of these vehicles. "Wowee!" he exclaimed.

"Wowee indeed," Big Nasty responded.

Spyro and his friends stared in awe.

However none were more shocked than Toadstool. He knew Big Nasty could make a mean cream cheese cheese steak, a wicked double fried stuffed mushroom, and a sizzling bacon stuffed hot dog; but never in his wildest dreams did he ever think he was capable of something like this.

"Boys, next to my Nasty Burgers, these are my greatest creations," said Big Nasty.

Toadstool's jaw was wide open. "Nasty, you made these?!" he asked in shock.

"Hey, I'm not just a pretty greasy face, you know," Big Nasty chuckled. "I've been working on these bad boys for some time and I just recently finished them. I've just been looking for some brave souls to kick em into gear and I think I found said souls."

Agent 9 jumped with excitement.

"I don't know, Mr. Nasty. Those seem dangerous," Zircon said incredulously.

"Relax, they're perfectly safe," Big Nasty assured. "They're just harmless ole vehicles with mounted death machines is all."

This comment made Zircon tremble.

Toadstool and the rest of Cold Blooded analyzed the vehicles thoroughly and couldn't help but be impressed by what they saw.

"So wait, you're saying that these can help us get into the city and deal with those creeps?" Slither asked.

"Pretty much. If ya'll are willing," said Big Nasty.

"Don't have to ask me twice!" exclaimed Agent 9.

"Nor I. Reporting for duty, sir!" Sgt Byrd said with a salute.

"As am I. I am prepared to eliminate those dastardly rapscallions!" said Bentley.

"You can count on me, mate," said Sheila.

"Well if Miss Sheila is willing to go, then I guess I am too," said Zircon.

"I'm in too," Spyro said firmly.

It seemed the entire gang, Cold Blooded included, were more than willing, so with a big smile, Big Nasty directed both gangs to a desk where he pulled out a map detailing the layout of War City. The map had four specific locations marked out with a red 'X.'

"Alright, now, over the past few days, dem gnorcs and rhynocs have made their homes in these four parts of the city; the power plant, the Fortress, the factory, and of course, the city itself," Big Nasty said.

"That looks like a lot of land to cover," Cleetus said, observing the map.

"I'll say. And I'll bet those spots are more than heavily guarded," Sheila speculated.

"You'd win that bet," said Big Nasty.

"Then we'll have to split up," Spyro suggested.

"Agreed. We can cover more ground if our forces are separate," Bentley concurred.

So with that, it was decided that the group would split up into teams and each would take a specific location. Big Nasty assigned the teams; Agent 9, Dirtbag, Sheila, and Zircon would take the power plant; Bentley, Slither, Sgt. Byrd, and Cleetus would take the Fortress; Spike Tooth, Elora, Hunter, and Bianca had the factory; much to Spyro's annoyance; and Big Nasty, Spyro, and Toadstool would secure the city.

With the teams made, Spike Tooth walked over to Elora. "Well, I hope you're ready for sssssome action," he said, raising his eyebrows at her.

"We're alwaysss-er, I mean-always ready for action," Elora responded.

Spyro rolled his eyes and sighed with slight aggravation as Toadstool walked up to him.

"Hey! If you guys are gonna ride out there with us. You gotta look the part first," Toadstool said, addressing Spyro and the gang.

With those words said, Cold Blooded took Spyro and the others to a small town location just beyond the cafe, bringing them to a tiny clothing shop. There, they gave them each a set of clothes for them to wear.

Spyro had a black leather jacket and a green mohawk.

Hunter also had a black leather jacket, light blue jeans, a red bandanna, and an earring on his left ear.

Bianca had her ears tied together with a skull, black lipstick and eye shadow, a black skirt, a black shirt with a pink broken heart in the center, and black high heeled boots with spikes.

Elora had pink spiky hair, black and pink nail polish, a black crop top and black skirt.

Sgt. Byrd had green elf ears, a black leather hat, and a black leather sleeveless jacket.

Sheila also had a black leather hat, leather jacket with spikes on the shoulders, black sleeveless gloves, and a silver skull which hung from her tail.

Bentley had a lion skin fur coat and black jeans.

Agent 9 had a metal hockey mask, and a black leather jacket.

Zircon was given long metal claws, three spikes on his back, and a black bandanna over his mouth.

Finally, Cleetus was given a leather jacket with brown fur lining, an orange mohawk, and piercings on his nose and across his left eye.

After getting their makeovers, the gang all looked at themselves in the mirror with Cold Blooded observing.

"Not bad, if I do say so myself," Toadstool said, beaming with pride.

Hunter shared Toadstool's sentiments as he posed in front of the mirror. "Hmmm, I am one good looking cheetah!" he said, flexing his muscles.

"What about me?" asked Bianca as she stood next to Hunter. "You don't think this is too much, do you?"

With an approving whistle, Hunter gave his girlfriend a thumbs up. "No way, babe. Black is definitely your color," he said, making Bianca blush.

"I'm more partial to brown, but for you, I think I can make a change," Bianca said with an awkward chuckle.

Bentley however did not reciprocate. "Personally, I find these garments to be rather unruly, but our current objective is the top priority," he said.

Agent 9 hopped on top of Bentley's shoulders enthusiastically, admiring himself. "Speak for yourself! This is soo cool! Those gnorcs and rhynocs better watch themselves, because I am not the monkey to play with!" he said.

As for Spyro, Elora, and Cleetus, they were indifferent.

Zircon noticed Sheila looking at her tail in the mirror and nervously went over to get her opinion. "Um...what do you think, Ms. Sheila? Are the spikes a...little much?" he asked timidly.

"No, not at all, Zirc," Shiela answered before looking back at the mirror. "What about me? Is the skull too much?"

"Absolutely not, Ms. Sheila. It uh... accentuates the shape of your..um...feet?" Zircon answered awkwardly.

For a few seconds, Sheila didn't have a response until a smile burst from her face and she gave Zircon a tight, squeezing hug. "Thanks, mate!" she exclaimed.

"Well, it's not any worse than when Hunter made us dress as tree sap for Leaf Blessing Day," Elora said with a shudder.

The last to come out was Big Nasty and he was sporting a football with spikes coming out of the shoulders and a black football helmet with an orange mohawk.

He gritted his teeth and pounded his chest as he stood before both groups. "Thanks for the getup, Toadstool! This reminds me of my youth as linebacker in the War City Explosive Football League!" Big Nasty.

"Explosive Football?" Spyro asked with concern.

"Yeah, it's like regular football, except the footballs are filled with nitro glycerin," said Big Nasty.

"I see," Spyro said with a nervous chuckle.

"Alright, fellas! Get out your big boys gloves, because it's time to go to war!" Big Nasty proclaimed.

So with the makeovers done, it was indeed time for Spyro and the others to head out. It would no doubt be extremely difficult, but they were more than ready to take it on. They rushed back to the cafe and mounted their respective vehicles, setting their sights on one thing and one thing only; taking back War City.


	8. All's Fair in War and War

"ATTACK!" Big Nasty shouted as he pointed to the city.

Bentley and Cleetus commandeered the big rig; Shiela and Zircon took the bathtub car; Agent 9 took the drill car; Hunter, Elora, and Bianca took the red car; and finally, Big Nasty and Spyro took the hummer while Sgt. Byrd took to the skies.

Meanwhile, the Cold Blooded members had their own modified motorcycles, complete with weapons.

The team rode in with determination and resolve in their vehicles towards the city.

Before leaving, Big Nasty gave each member of the team a walkie talkie for communication. He took his out and addressed them.

"Alright, listen fellas! You all know your jobs! Those boys aren't gonna take it easy on us so neither will we! You ready?!" he said.

"You know it!" said Spyro.

"Affirmative!" said Sgt. Byrd.

"Ehh...I guess so," Hunter said nervously.

"That's the spirit! Now let's do this!" exclaimed Big Nasty.

The team was now halfway to the city and at this point, it was time for them to split up.

Suddenly, the team noticed something in the distance. It was hard for them to tell at first as they were just silhouettes in the dust from the sand, but soon, they made themselves more visible, revealing themselves as a large army of rhynocs and gnorcs in cars and motorcycles of their own. But what was a real surprise to the team; specifically Spyro, Hunter, and Elora; was who was leading them, none other than Crush and Gulp.

Adorned in black leather jackets, the two commandeered a giant tank outfitted with machine guns. Crush drove while Gulp stood at the roof.

"Crush and Gulp?" Hunter observed.

"What are those idiots doing here?!" said Spyro.

"On errands for Ripto, no doubt," said Elora.

"You know them?" Bianca asked Hunter.

"Yep, they caused a lot of trouble for us back in Avalar," Hunter said.

"They may be short on brains, but they pack a big punch," said Elora.

"I'll say. I've still got sores from the last time I butted heads with em! Still toasted them though," Spyro said confidently.

"So basically, things just got harder and we'll probably, most likely end up as dead bodies in the middle of the desert...great..." Slither groaned.

Dirtbag and Zircon started to tremble before Toadstool calmed both of them down. "Easy, you guys. We can do this!" he said.

"He'sss right. And if thosssse two give you any trouble, Elora, jussst ssssay the word," said Spike Tooth.

"Oh, brother," Spyro said, groaning in annoyance.

Suddenly, a missile came flying in the team's direction. At the last split second, they all evaded.

"We have to get past these guys before we do anything else!" instructed Big Nasty.

"Right! Let's toast these chumps!" exclaimed Spyro.

Following Crush and gulp were a rhynoc riding in an ice cream truck with machine guns and spikes, and a gnorc riding in a vehicle with the front of a bulldozer and the back of a truck; two gnorcs riding a garbage truck with missile launchers; three rhynocs riding a Hurst with two side cars; and multiple gnorcs and rhynocs riding motorcycles with machine guns.

"To battle, soldiers!" Sgt. Byrd shouted before firing a couple couple of missiles at one of the motorcycles.

The ice cream truck fired and the bulldozer fired their missiles at Spyro and Big Nasty, but they managed to evade them, but then the bulldozer rammed into them, flipping them over. Luckily, they stayed on their wheels and fired back.

Hunter was trying to figure out which of the many buttons to push in his car.

"Try that one," Elora suggested, pointing at a silver button.

Hunter did so and a bunch of tacks came out of the back of the car and popped the tires of three of the motorcycles. But as Hunter was reveling in his success, the Hurst came in and started bumping him to the side.

As the garbage truck closed in on Agent 9, he pressed one of the buttons and made number of land mines came out.

"Oh yeah! Now we're talkin!'" he exclaimed.

However, the garbage truck barely evaded each of the mines and fired a missile at him which he barely dodged as well.

Toadstool and Dirtbag took out a couple of motorcycles, but then they both bumped into Crush and Gulp.

"HAHA! Take that, you chameleons!" shouted Crush.

"FROG and GILA MONSTER!" Toadstool corrected.

Crush and Gulp fired at the two, but they quickly evaded.

Meanwhile Spike Tooth and Slither took out some motorcycles of their own as well as Zircon and Sheila.

The garbage truck maneuvered in front of Sheila and Zircon, then opened its back hatch, letting out a pile of garbage onto them.

"Oh dear! I fear we may have our fur cleaned later, Miss Sheila!" Zircon expressed with great aggravation.

Sheila pulled back on the shift and drove out of the pile. "We'll worry about that later, mate!" she said to Zircon before firing her guns at the garbage truck.

Agent 9 popped the tires of three of the motorcycles while Sgt. Byrd took out two with his missiles.

The Hurst was bumping into Hunter and the girls and was close to knocking them over when Spike Tooth came from behind them. After closing in on the Hurst, he balanced on the seat of his motorcycle, and jumped onto the vehicle, then knocked out the two rhynocs in the sidecars. He then broke the top widow and threw the third rhynoc out before taking control of the Hurst.

"Wow! Nice work, Spike Tooth!" Elora said complementing him.

"Of coursssse! Anytime," said Spike Tooth.

Overhearing this, Spyro growled in annoyance, before turning his attention to the ice cream truck that was firing at him and Big Nasty. Just then, he got and idea.

"Big Nasty! Get me to the side!" Spyro commanded.

In response, Big Nasty drove to the side of the ice cream truck. Once there, Spyro poked his head out of the window and fired his water breath at the rhynoc, knocking him out.

"Nice work, boy!" exclaimed Big Nasty. "When this is over, remind me to give you a discount!"

Hunter tried his hand at taking out Crush and Gulp, but his bullets barely scratched them as they just rode through them before knocking him, Elora, and Bianca down.

"Elora!" shouted Spike Tooth.

Unfortunately, he didn't have time to try and help as Crush and Gulp quickly took him out with a missile.

To make matters worse, the bulldozer crushed Zircon and Sheila's vehicle, forcing the both of them to retreat. Luckily, Toadstool and Slither were there to give them a ride.

"Thank you, Mr. Slither!" Zircon said with relief. "They are quite aggressive."

"Yeah, no kidding," Slither said.

Zircon noticed one of the rhynocs on a motorcycle trying to knock over Sheila and Toadstool and his expression soon changed.

"But so am I" he said aggressively.

Zircon immediately jumped off of Slither's motorcycle and rolled into the rhynoc's, running him down. Once he rejoined Slither, he returned to his composed demeanor. "My apologies!"

"Nice work, Zirc!" exclaimed Sheila.

Zircon bowed in response.

With the garbage truck still chasing him, Agent 9 drove backwards and activated the drills on his cars. "Hope you like Swiss cheese!" he cackled.

Agent 9 held back on the acceleration and the garbage truck ran into his drills. They managed to pierce through the front, but that did not stop the garbage truck from lifting him up. Breaking free of the drill, the truck tossed Agent 9 over it, causing him to launch out of it.

Crawling out of the car, Agent 9 was nearly ran over by the bulldozer until Sgt. Byrd came in at the last second and grabbed him with his talons.

The garbage truck then turned its attention to Spyro and Big Nasty. However, Big Nasty was more then ready for it. Pressing a button, he launched a pair of spinning pizza disks that sliced the truck in half.

"And that, Spyro, is the correct way to make pizza!" he exclaimed.

"Noted," Spyro said with a chuckle.

Just then, he and Big Nasty noticed Hunter, Bianca, and Elora vehicle-less and desperately trying to evade the gunfire and immediately drove towards them.

"We have to find cover!" exclaimed Hunter.

"Oh sure, Hunter. Let's find some cover in the middle of the desert," Elora retorted sarcastically.

"We could always hide in the sand," Hunter suggested, to which Elora and Bianca rolled their eyes.

Fortunately for the three, Big Nasty and Spyro arrived to save them and they all hopped into the hummer.

With Sgt. Byrd carrying him, Agent 9 fired away at a number of motorcycles.

Meanwhile; Cleetus, Bentley, and the bulldozer butted heads with one another.

"Eat bullets, big boy!" exclaimed Cleetus as he fired the missiles.

The bulldozer fired back with twin side machine guns and Cleetus responded with a series of cannon shots while Bentley used his club to swat them away.

"Back! Back, you uncultured, illiterate brutes!" shouted Bentley.

"Eeel-lie-lee-tor...what?" said Cleetus.

"Never mind," Bentley sighed.

As the two continued to fend off the bulldozer, Big Nasty and Spyro picked up Spike Tooth, much to Spyro's reluctance.

"Spike Tooth, are you OK?" asked Elora.

"Or courssssse. Thanksss to you," Spike Tooth said, holding Elora's hand,

Spyro shook his head, growling through gritted teeth.

It seemed as though Cleetus and Bentley's vehicle and the bulldozer were evenly matched until Cleetus got an idea. "Hold onto yer fur!" he exclaimed.

With a hard turn, Cleetus did a donut around the bulldozer, confusing the driver before ramming into it, knocking it down.

"Your style of vehicular commandeering is rather unorthodox but, it I must say it is effective," said Bentley.

"Unortho...are you insulting me?!" Cleetus said.

"No, that was a compliment," Bentley said nervously.

"Oh...well thank you," Cleetus said, smiling and chuckling.

Just then, Big Nasty communicated with the two as well as the others.

"Boys! We're close to the city, but these suckers are pinning us down hard! We need to think of something to get em off our backs!" exclaimed Big Nasty.

"Leave them to me!" said Cleetus.

"By yourself?! Absolutely not!" said Bentley.

"Hey, there aren't that many left. I can handle these bozos! You all need to focus on taking back the city! I'll be fine!" said Cleetus.

"I think Cleetus can take care of himself," said Spyro.

The rest of the group were incredulous about leaving Cleetus behind, as was Spyro, but admittedly, he did have a point. First and foremost, what was important was the mission.

"He's right! If Cleetus can hold the fort for us, we should go for it!" said Big Nasty.

After clearing out a few motorcycles, Big Nasty turned the big rig around and opened the back, revealing a number of small vehicles.

"Wow! I didn't know you had those!" Spyro exclaimed.

"First rule in making death vehicles; always make spares," said Big Nasty. "Assigned teams, take a vehicle and head to your destinations!"

Each of the teams got into a respective vehicle with Bentley being the last among them, but not before placing a hand on Cleetus' shoulder.

"Good luck, my friend," Bentley said.

Cleetus nodded before Bentley exited the hummer.

Crush and Gulp noticed the teams heading off and ordered them to be stopped. A multitude of motorcycles surrounded them, blocking their path. But Sgt. Byrd quickly disposed of them with his missiles and cleared a path for them.

"We can't let them get away!" shouted Crush.

Gulp nodded in agreement before the two drove towards Spyro and his friends. However, Cleetus immediately blocked the way.

"If you boys want a fight, I go 400 pounds of dragon right here for ya!" exclaimed Cleetus.

Crush and Gulp growled in anger.

Before joining them, Sgt. Byrd looked back to Cleetus and gave him a salute. "Good luck, soldier!" he said.

Cleetus saluted back as Spyro and the others departed.


	9. Toxic Relationships

Located on the far west side of the city was the abandoned nuclear power plant. Led by Dirtbag; Agent 9, Zircon, and Sheila made their way towards it. Truth be told, Dirtbag wasn't someone who did a lot of talking due to his shy nature. However, in times like these, he more than realized the time to be mute had to be put on hold and step up. He looked up at the power with a hardened look of resolve, before turning to the others.

"According to one of Big Nasty's boys, the rhynocs and gnorcs have managed to get the power plant up and running again. Thanks to a couple of toxic generators, they've been producing toxic based weapons which I'm sure the others are dealing with right now as we speak," said Dirtbag.

Zircon gasped and placed a hand over his mouth. "Toxic weapons?! How unsanitary!" he said.

"Not to mention poisonous," said Sheila.

"Yep. But if we can destroy the generators, it'll cut off their weapons supply," said Dirtbag.

"So we're blowing stuff up?! Sounds good to me! Let's do it!" Agent 9 exclaimed.

Dirtbag fired a missile towards the door, blowing it up, and the group headed inside.

The interior was that of a disheveled wreck. Debris covered the floors overlooked by rusty metal balconies and broken windows. The sounds of the machinery echoed throughout the walls with an eerie rumbling that made Zircon shiver.

"Easy, mate," Sheila said, placing a hand on Zircon's shoulder.

"This is no time to get cold feet," Dirtbag said, getting off his motorcycle.

"Easy for a reptile to say," said Zircon.

In addition to the noises, Zircon also didn't care for the unkempt interior. Despite this, he was prepared to do what he must for the mission as Dirtbag huddled them together.

"OK, listen up. There are two toxic generators. Zircon; you and Sheila take one and me and Agent 9 will take the other," said Dirtbag.

"Got it! Let's go, Zirc,"Sheila said, motioning to Zirc.

"We'll meet back here!" said Dirtbag.

Sheila and Zircon nodded before heading off. The two went in the right direction while Dirtbag and Agent 9 went to the left.

* * *

Making their way up a set of stairs, Dirtbag and Agent 9 were high up above the floor of the power plant. As they passed the dark pipes, they could smell the toxic fumes emanating from them as the slime slowly dripped down as if the pipes were bleeding. The pipes twisted and mingled with each other, almost like a sort of maze or a mangled spider's web that one could easily get trapped or lost in.

This however didn't intimidate the fidgeting Agent 9. "Oh Rhynocs...Gnorc-ys...come out and get blasted..." he whispered in a melodic tone.

"Remember, Agent 9, we have to destroy that generator," Dirtbag said.

"I know, I know, but it doesn't hurt blast some uglies along way," Agent 9 said with a sinister chuckle.

It didn't take long for Agent 9 to get his wish as immediately, they were ambushed by a group of rhynoc and gnorcs all carrying large blasters.

One of the gnorcs fired a shot of toxic goo towards Agent 9. Quickly using his tail, Dirtbag grabbed him and lunged him out of the way. The two watched as the goo dissolved a hole in the floor. To say they would have to be careful when dealing with these foes was a gross understatement.

The rest of the gnors and rhynoc began firing and the two rapidly dodged, making sure not to get hit by the goo.

Agent 9 jumped off the balcony and onto the pipes and, using his tail, swung to and fro while firing his blaster and avoiding the goo.

Menawhile, Dirtbag dodged a couple of shots from the rhynocs and gnorcs, then pounced on a rhynoc. A gnorc tried to get him from behind, only to be grabbed by his tail and flung off the balcony. Dirtbag then used his tail and took out a gnorc and rhynoc before noticing a set of stairs going further up.

Agent 9 blasted away a number of gnorcs and rhynocs then met with Dirtbag.

"I think one of the generators might be up there," Dirtbag said, pointing upward.

"Well what are we waiting for?! Let's get to it!" exclaimed Agent 9.

Immediately, the two rushed up the first few sets of stairs, only to be met by more rhynocs and gnorcs, but this didn't stop them. Agent 9 blasted them away, while Dirtbag used his power and tail. They continued this, going further and further up until they reached the top where more gnorcs and rhynoc awaited them. Luckily, they were able to deal with them.

Up ahead, Agent 9 spotted what looked to be the generator, a tall, oval shaped structure. At both side were clear, circular pods containing dragonflies. "There it is! Now all we gotta do is blast that thing, free the dragonflies, and we are golden, baby!" he exclaimed before rushing over to the generator.

As he approached, a giant hulking gnorc popped out of the floor. With his large teeth and drooling mouth, he carried a large toxic pack with twin blasters.

"I'm gonna melt you losers!" he shouted in a gravelly voice, pointing his guns at the two.

"Of course, it's never easy...just the way I like it! HAHA!" exclaimed Agent 9.

The gnorc rapidly fired a barrage of toxic goo which the two just barely dodged. Dirtbag attempted a pounce, but the gnorc swatted him away. Not helping was the fact that Agent 9's blasters were doing very little damage. The gnorc fired a blast at Dirtbag, but he dodged and pounced on him.

"Fire at his pack!" Dirtbag ordered.

Unfortunately, Agent 9 couldn't get a clear shot as the gnorc was flailing around until he forced Dirtbag off of him.

The gnorc then fired a shot up in the air which caused multiple drops of goo to fall like rain. Dirtbag and Agent 9 barely dodged all of them. When Agent 9 dodged one, he dropped his blaster and the goo fell on it, dissolving it.

"That gnorc nuked my blaster!" Agent 9 exclaimed.

The gnorc then grabbed Agent 9 and tossed him hard against the wall. The gnorc then fired a shot of goo, but luckily, Dirtbag was able to grab Agent 9 at the last second.

"We'll have to do this the old fashioned way," said Dirtbag.

Agent 9 raised an eyebrow, curious as to what the 'old fashioned way' was until Dirtbag began whispering in his ear.

"You sure?" Agent 9 asked.

"I'm sure," Dirtbag answered.

"Positive?" Agent 9 asked, to which he received a glare from Dirtbag. "OK, got it."

The two went on sides of the gnorc who stood stoic, growling through his drooling mouth. "Bring it on, runts!" he shouted before firing again.

Dirtbag and Agent 9 dodged and the monkey began scurrying around on all fours, then jumped on top of the gnorc's head and scratched him.

"Come on, ya nut-faced gnorc!" Agent 9 taunted, shaking his butt in the gnorc's face.

"I'll show you, Banana Breath!" growled the gnorc.

The monster attempted to squash Agent 9 beneath his feet, but Agent 9 kept evading him.

With the gnorc distracted, Dirtbag was able to sneak by, towards the generator. He wrapped his tail around it and tugged on it with all his strength.

Just then, the gnorc noticed and fired a shot, causing Dirtbag to release his tail and dodge out of the way. He went for another shot, but Agent 9 stopped him by once again jumping onto his face and relentlessly scratching him while the gnorc tried to pull him off.

"Pick up the pace, Dirtbag!" Agent 9 shouted, stubbornly holding on.

Once again, Dirtbag wrapped his tail around the generator and pulled with extreme force.

Meanwhile, the gnorc tried to punch agent 9 off his face. Though the pain was great, Agent 9 endured and continued to hold on.

Dirtbag pulled further and further as the generator started to come loose until finally, it timbered down, releasing all the dragonflies in the process.

"Mission accomplished!" exclaimed Dirtbag.

With the generator destroyed and the dragonflies freed, Agent 9 let go of the gnorc's face and Dirtbag immediately tripped him with his tail. The two then retreated as far away from the gnorc as possible, instructing the dragonflies to follow them.

"Adios, Gnorc-O!" cried Agent 9 before fleeing.

Getting to his feet, the gnorc roared in rage upon seeing the destroyed generator.

* * *

Zircon and Sheila rushed towards the second generator's location.

"According to what Dirtbag told us, the generator should be located in the plant's southwestern most direction," said Zircon.

"Right. And that is..." Sheila pondered.

"That way," Zircon said, pointing to the right.

Sheila followed Zirc in said direction, turning multiple corners, before going up a flight of stairs. They ran across the platform until they spotted the generator in the distance, located across a metal bridge which stood over a large vat of toxic goo.

There didn't appear to be any rhynocs or gnorcs around, so the situation seemed easy. All they had to do was just walk up, destroy the generator, and their mission would be done.

"Well, there is it. What do ya say we demolish the thing and get back to the others?" Sheila proposed.

"Absolutely, Miss Sheila. Though I can't help but feel the situation is a little too easy," said Zircon.

"Hmm, you got a point there, Zirc. Still, it's right there," said Sheila.

"Might I suggest we take cautionary steps?" Zircon suggested.

"Good idea," Sheila said, nodding in agreement.

The two slowly tiptoed across the bridge. Zircon trembled in fear as he looked down at the toxic goo below. He knew just one foul step and either he or Sheila would fall and it was a long way down. But at Sheila's suggestion, he kept his head upward, didn't look down, and kept moving forward.

As the two suspected however, getting to the generator was not so simple as a small army of rhynoc and gnorcs appeared from behind the generator, cackling maniacally.

"Hey, kiddies!" shouted one of the gnorcs. "You know, you both seem a little exhausted. I know just the thing for ya. A nice little swim!"

A rhynoc pulled a large lever and this caused the bridge underneath Sheila and Zircon to open, sending the two falling into into the vat.

"Miss Sheila! Grab onto my back!" Zircon cried.

Once Sheila had a tight grip on him, Zircon grabbed onto the side of the vat with his claws and began sliding down, just barely touching the goo at the bottom.

"Sheesh! That was close," said Sheila.

"Indeed," Zircon said, straining himself.

Using all his strength, he dug his claws further into the vat wall and ascended upward, carrying Sheila's weight along with him. But carrying Sheila was much less of a challenge compared to what was waiting for them.

The gnorcs and rhynocs glared at the two from the top of the vat, two of which were carrying flamethrowers. They pointed their weapons towards the two and fired.

"Fire in the hole!" exclaimed Zircon before dodging the fireballs.

"Fire in the hole?" Sheila asked, dryly.

Zircon chuckled awkwardly. "Sorry, that was an attempt at a joke," he said.

"That was hilarious!" Sheila said, bursting into laughter.

"Oh, well, thank you, Miss Sheila," said Zircon, blushing.

Just then, the two noticed the vat below starting to bubble. It hadn't done it before, so suffice to say, they did not have a good feeling about what was happening. A part of the vat where the fireballs landed burst upwards towards the two and Zircon just barely dodged.

"Sheesh! Talk about being caught between a fireball and a pool of toxic waste," said Shiela.

"Haha! That was a good one, Miss Sheila," Zircon chuckled.

"Thanks, mate," Sheila responded, smiling.

The jokes would have to be put on hold as Zirc still had a bit of a climb ahead of him, and with the gnorcs and rhynocs firing at him, it wasn't gonna be easy.

The henchmen relentlessly fired. Carrying Sheila's weight, Zircon was just barely able to dodge not only the fireballs, but the toxic goo as well. The sweat trickled down his fur and he panted rapidly.

"Maybe I should consider cutting back on the rubies," he said to himself.

So as not to lose his stamina, he took deeper breaths with every climb, though the constant dodging was taking a significant toll on him. Though he was reaching the top, each climb he took felt it was a hundred or a thousand miles away. Eventually, he neared the top where the gnorcs and rhynocs awaited him, snarling with malice.

They anticipated he would approached the top and were ready to mound an assault on him and his kangaroo friend. What they weren't expecting however was Sheila's two massive feet popping up from below and knocking two of them out.

"Anybody else wanna play?" Sheila taunted after landing on the platform.

Zircon soon joined her, catching his breath from exhaustion. "I do...just...give me...a...moment..." he said, panting.

But unfortunately, the two didn't have a moment as the other rhynocs and gnorcs went on the attack. She knocked out a rhynoc and a gnorc with a kick. One gnorc came at her from behind, but she tripped him with her tail, then finished him off with a stomp. She then took down a gnorc with a punch to the face before she was grabbed from behind by a rhynoc.

Seeing Sheila in trouble, Zircon's fatigue disappeared and he rolled into a ball and knocked the rhynoc off of her. He then picked up another rhynoc and tossed him to the side.

A large group of rhynocs and gnorcs grouped together and charged forward.

The two backed a few steps before they simultaneously had an epiphany.

Sheila turned to Zircon, smiling. "You thinkin' what I'm thinkin?'" she asked him.

"I believe so," Zircon said, smiling back.

As the rhynocs and gnorcs grew closer, Zircon stepped in front of Sheila, once again rolling into a ball. Sheila analyzed the approaching henchmen, stood on her tail and kicked Zircon with sheer force, knocking them down like bowling pins.

"STRIKE!" Sheila exclaimed, triumphantly back flipping.

Zircon attempted to do the same, only to fall flat on his back.

Sheila chuckled, helping Zircon to his feet.

There was but one gnorc remaining who trembled in fear, realizing he was face to face with the two, alone. He slowly backed away until he was right behind the generator. His scared expression then turned to a sinister smile which had the two concerned. From his pocket, he pulled out a remote control and pressed a small red button.

Suddenly, multiple explosions occurred underneath the platform, shattering it. Sheila and Zircon quickly backed out of the way of the blasts. The platform was all but destroyed. Only the support structures were left standing. With it gone, there seemed to be no way for the two to get across. The gnorc stood on the opposite side, relishing in his supposed victory as he laughed and taunted the two.

Zircon sulked his head down in defeat. "I'm sorry, Miss Sheila. I guess our efforts were for naught," he said somberly.

As Sheila scratched her head, trying to figure out a way to get across, she noticed the support structures and an idea came to her head. "We're not out the game yet, mate. This time, it's your turn to take a piggy back ride on me," she said.

She motioned for Zircon to get on her back and he hopped on. He was quite heavy, just as she was to him, but she was still able to carry him over to the edge of the platform.

He wasn't quite sure what she was planning, but he trusted her judgment.

"Hang on," Sheila advised.

Zircon wrapped his arms firmly around Sheila's neck before she hopped to the nearest support structure, maintaining her balance. Holding on even tighter, Zircon trembled in fear before she hopped to the next one, all the while doing his best not to look down.

Being a mole, he was used to digging in the ground, not being so high above it.

However, Sheila reassured him that they would be fine and Zircon decided to keep his eyes closed the rest of the way.

Meanwhile, the gnorc watched on with slight concern. Though Sheila was a kangaroo, there was no way she could even hope to make all the way across to the other side. But to his chagrin, she managed to hop across the remaining three structures until she and Zircon stood face to face with him. With no other options, all he could do was smile nervously.

Sheila smiled back, though hers was more of the sly variety as she swiftly kicked the gnorc into the generator, knocking him out, destroying the generator, and freeing the dragonflies.

"Good work, Miss Sheila!" Zircon exclaimed.

Sheila offered Zircon a celebratory high five, which Zircon was unsure of how to do.

"We just slap each other's hands," Sheila said, showing him by clapping her hands together.

Seeing this, Zircon proceeded to high five Sheila, feeling rather exhilarated by the experience.

Sheila gestured her thumb to the dragonflies. "Well, that's taken care of. What do ya say we get these little buggers outta here?" she suggested.

Zircon nodded in agreement before Sheila herded the freed dragonflies with him following close behind.

* * *

With both of their missions complete, the four met back near the entrance.

Having been trapped for an exceptional amount of time, the dragonflies were a bit excitable, flying all over the place. Luckily, Sheila managed to keep them in check as she stomped her foot and ordered them to stay still.

"Now behave, ya little buggers! Or no butterflies for you!" she said sternly.

"You're quite good at handling the little things, Miss Sheila," Zircon said, impressed.

Having grown up in her home in the alps, Sheila was adept at dealing with young lings or at the very least, those that acted like young lings such as her billy goat friends.

"Experience, mate; experience," Sheila said brushing her chest off with confidence.

Just then, she notice Agent 9 with his head slumped down in sadness, as if he had just lost a dear friend. She tried to ask him, but he didn't respond.

"We fought a gnorc and he toasted Agent 9's blaster," said Dirtbag.

"Your blaster?! Oh, mate, that's rough," said Sheila.

Agent 9 fell to his knees. "WHY MUST THE GOOD DIE YOUNG?!" he shouted to the sky.

Dirtbag sighed. "While Agent 9 pulls himself together, let's take the dragonflies back to Big Nasty's place. Sheila, watch them and make sure they don't cause any trouble," he instructed.

"You got it, mate," said Sheila.

"Will you need any help, Miss Sheila?," said Zircon.

"Thanks, but I can take of myself when it comes to these buggers," Sheila said reassuringly before she herded the dragonflies into Dirtbag's vehicle.

Picking up the still distraught Agent 9, Zircon hopped in alongside them and the group departed the power plant, hoping the others were equally as successful.


End file.
